Getting Read In
by pdljmpr6
Summary: Promised sequel to 'It's Need to Know'. Kelly discovers the CIA is not as easy to get rid of as she'd hoped, Tony discovers dating the Boss' daughter can be hazardous to his health and Gibbs is just trying to make sure nobody ends up dead.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **How I let you people convince me to do a sequel, I'll never know. I think this plot is even more difficult than the last one! lol. Anyway, here's the first chapter of the sequel to 'It's Need to Know', to be honest I started writing it like the day I finished INTK, so I guess i can't place all the 'blame' on you lovely readers, can I? This first chap is really short but it was a natural stopping point...oh. Deja vu. :) As always, reviews are love you know I love the love you all love me with. Other than that, sit back and enjoy the ride! -pj

---

Abby raised her eyebrows at the uncharacteristically frazzled Kelly 'Tracy' Gibbs, who was pacing a hole in her perfectly good hardwood floors.

"Just take a deep breath, kid," Abby soothed with a smile, "it can't be all bad, what with a muscle boyfriend like Tony to go home to."

Abby turned away and pulled a bottle of Grey Goose from the cupboard. She was tapping her inner bartender as she fixed them both martinis and figured a meltdown like this deserved the good stuff.

Kelly slumped into the stool on the others side of the counter and lay her chin in her hand.

"It's not, really it's not." Her word's said one thing, but her 'i'm at the end of my rope' tone said another. "And don't get me wrong, it's not like I'm looking to go back, nothing could be further from the truth, I just…it's been almost three months and I'm still so _bored_."

She dropped her head onto her hands and sighed dramatically.

Abby looked up, concerned "but you were enrolled in those high level math courses. I thought you'd like that."

Kelly looked up and shrugged uncomfortably, "I do Abby, it's just…" she smiled, "it was a sweet gesture and all but 'nonlinear dynamics and network theory'? Abby, the stuff these kids are learning I've been using in practical applications since before I had my first training bra. I should be teaching that course, not taking it."

Abby slumped her shoulders but smiled sympathetically, "I guess I didn't think of that."

"Sure you did. Anything higher level would have attracted attention," Kelly reminded her, wishing to put the other woman's mind at ease, "it's not even the point really anyway," she continued, looking a little guilty as she did so, "when I get bored I get kinda bitchy and with dad still adjusting to the idea of 'me and Tony' in the same sentence, things have been a little tense at the Gibbs/Draco household."

Abby nodded, pouring the alcohol from the shaker into shallow v-shaped glasses and pushed one across the counter to Kelly.

"Drink," she ordered. Kelly smiled appreciatively and took a long sip.

"Ah," she set her glass down and leaned back, rolling the olive around in her mouth, "bring on the ice crème and movie and let Girls Night In begin."

"No joke, I thought this week would never end," Abby sipped her own martini and made a disgusted face at the memory of the past few days, "but then, dismembered bodies of sailors found in car trunks tend to make the days drag on."

Kelly nodded, "Ziva's bringing the movie, right?"

"And the ice-crème," there was a knock on the door and Abby made her way around the bar to get it, "that's probably her now."

Kelly nodded again absently and didn't turn as Abby disappeared down the hallway behind her to get the door. Her mind wandered between the homework she wasn't doing, the boyfriend she wasn't with and the ice-crème she wasn't eating in turn, nothing really keeping her attention for too long at a time.

Almost a minute went by before she turned around, realizing Abby had not yet returned with Ziva.

"Abby?" she called, rising from her seat. She turned toward the short hallway and was surprised to see the other woman's dark form in a crumpled heap on the floor near the door, "Abby!"

Kelly rushed forward and knelt down, checking for injuries and a pulse before turning her over.

"Abby wake up please," she pattered her face but received no response, "Abby c'mon."

The floor creaked behind her and she froze, the hairs on the back of her neck went up as the unknown assailant approached. Keeping her back to the noise she subtly reached toward the knife in her shoe.

_Thank you Rule Nine._

With a terrified cry that somehow doubled as a battle cry, she whirled around, thrusting the knife out in the direction of the black clad figure behind her. She would've grinned when he heard a pained scream accompany a glancing blow to the arm, but was too busy trying to beat the person into oblivion with her small fists. Suddenly, two strong arms gripped her from behind, pinning her arms to her sides and lifting her off the ground.

The knife fell from her hands and Kelly started to scream, praying one of the neighbors would hear and come to help. But the sound had barely left her throat when a large cloth was pressed to her face and almost immediately her limbs became heavy and the world began to edge into darkness.

---

"There's more to it than just driving in circles, Boss," Tony called from the kitchen, reaching into the refrigerator and pulling out two beers. "there's a lot of strategy involved. Can he make one more lap without stopping for tires? Should he cut right now or drop back and wait for the opportunity to come to him."

He meandered back into the living room where Gibbs sat on the couch trying very hard to look disinterested as the words 'Daytona 500' flashed repeatedly across the screen.

"If the flood in your apartment isn't fixed by tomorrow, DiNozzo I'm sending you to Abby's." Gibbs threatened, taking the proffered beer and sending his junior agent a sidelong glare.

Tony sipped his own beer and grinned cheekily, "you wouldn't do that, Boss. You love having me here."

Gibbs didn't respond.

"Right, Boss?"

The telephone chose that moment to ring but Tony was still waiting for an answer on his question, a growing sense of dread in his stomach that a coffin and death metal were in his future.

"Gibbs."

Tony turned back to watching the opening ceremony, but quickly tuned it out again at the change in Gibbs' tone.

"When Abby?…are you alright?…okay, we'll be there in five."

Tony was already pulling on his coat and slipping his badge into his pocket. Gibbs gave him a grim look and snatched up his keys from the table as he strode toward the door.

"There was a break in at Abby's" he said, not waiting for Tony to ask, "Kelly is missing."

_TBC_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **OMG!! We're back!! I don't know how long it will last, but I am back to being able to log into my profile so here is the next chapter! **finlaure **- _Haha, I know what you mean! _ENJOY!!!-pj

---

Ziva had already been on her way to Abby's and therefore had beat Gibbs and Tony there by several minutes. She'd found Abby, established that she was alright, and then merely grabbed her gear from her trunk and began processing the scene. After Gibbs gave her the okay to do so Abby called the Metro Cops, knowing that at the moment, he couldn't claim jurisdiction. Abby wasn't military and, as far as anyone outside his team was concerned, Tracy was his niece and a civilian.

Ziva was finishing up her sketches as she sidled up next to Tony, who was going through the photos on the camera.

"You okay?" She asked softly, not looking at him.

Tony hesitated before speaking, his eyes remaining glued to the camera and his voice so low it could hardly be heard.

"Shoulda' been here."

Ziva sighed and shook her head, "there is no way you could have known."

This did not seem to be what he wanted to hear.

"Like hell," he snapped and brushed past her toward the living room/dining area at the end of the short hall where Gibbs was comforting Abby and trying to get more information.

"Abbs, just calm down," Gibbs tried, "I need you to focus."

"I _am_ focused Gibbs, but my house was just broken into and my friend abducted so I'm a little wired at the moment." Abby protested his gesture with a shake of her head.

"Hey," he stepped forward, forcing her to look up at him and he lowered his voice to a whisper, "she's important to me too, you know."

Abby's eyes widened and she mentally kicked herself for her outburst. She nodded slightly, "of course Gibbs, I know-"

"And we're going to find her," he finished, not allowing her to complete the roundabout apology, "Now what do you remember?"

She shook her head miserably, "they wore masks and I was out before I even got a good look at them. But I'm going to get down to my lab to start a facial reconstruction as soon as Metro takes my statement," she looked away guiltily, "I'm sorry Gibbs, I-I opened the door without checking. I thought it was Ziva. Girls night."

Gibbs pursed his lips,but squeezed her shoulder reassuringly before turning to acknowledge Tony's hovering presence.

They stepped away slightly from Abby and lowered their voices.

"Metro is almost here but we've already got samples of everything. Ziva's finishing a sketch now," he paused, looking like he wanted to say more.

"Spit it out, DiNozzo," Gibbs had a feeling he knew what it was Tony wasn't saying, because he was thinking the same.

"Do you think they took her back, Boss?" He let his eyes slide up to Gibbs, unsure if he wanted the response to be in the affirmative or not. If it wasn't, then it was just some random kidnapping that the odds were against them to turn out well, if it was the CIA back for more…well, that was almost worse in comparison.

"Don't know yet, Tony," he said, his tone hard-edged, though Tony was sure the aggression wasn't directed at him, "only one way to find out."

He started toward the door and then turned back, "Abby?"

She looked up at him from where she'd folded herself up on the couch.

He knelt so he was eye-to-eye with her.

"Next time, Abby, check before you open the door."

She swallowed hard and nodded, pigtails brushing her shoulders, "don't worry Gibbs. I will. Always."

Gibbs nodded and stood to leave, Tony on his heels.

"Where do you think you're going, DiNozzo?" Gibbs stopped short and spun so that he was face to face with the junior agent.

Tony raised his eyebrow, "with you, Boss," he stated, his voice saying that he thought that should have been obvious.

"No, you're not."

"But Gibbs I-" Tony started.

Gibbs had to know, didn't he? He had to know how much it was killing Tony being here. Knowing Kelly was out there somewhere in trouble and he was just standing there, useless, able to do nothing about it.

"No, DiNozzo, I want you here. At the scene," Gibbs interrupted sharply, "Make sure Metro understands that we're to be kept in the loop on this one. I want copies of everything. I want an agent at every interrogation, following every lead. Understood?"

Tony pursed his lips to keep all the expletives and smart-ass comments that were rushing up his throat inside and merely nodded.

Maybe he didn't know.

Then, a moment before continuing toward the door Gibbs' eyes softened minutely and he dropped his voice.

"I'll bring her back Tony," he said, and Tony liked to think a '_to you'_ was added silently as understanding passed between them.

_Of course he knows,_ Tony thought as his boss disappeared out the front door, _Gibbs always knows._

---

"Hey! I know you can hear me in there!" Kelly sat on the edge of a purple comforter of a queen size bed. She lifted the teddy bear' in her hands closer to her face, "I said I want to speak to the Director. No Deputy Director. No Special Agent In Charge. The _Director _of the Central Intelligence Agency."

The tiny cameras in the bear's eyes focused in slightly but made no other comment and she sighed in disgust, tossing it aside. She stood and folded her arms, turning first to the camera and mike in the lamp on the dresser, and then to the ones on the clock. She took a step forward, seemingly screaming at the inanimate laptop, which she knew to be streaming live video, that sat atop the solid oak desk.

"I've read the file. I know you need me and badly or I wouldn't be here to begin with," _back here_, she added silently. When she'd woken half an hour ago she'd almost thought she was dreaming again. But then she'd realized it wasn't a dream. She was back. They'd _taken_ her back.

Everything was exactly as she'd left it. The sparsely decorated, but luxuriously furnished room that was meant to put her at ease, had been her playpen as a child and her mathematical domain as she got older, was a cage from which she only wanted freedom. The windows on two walls were glazed so as to only let in a warm, bright light meant to mimick the sun, but she knew it to be well placed lights. Kind of difficult to get direct sunlight from ten floors below ground.

She leaned on the desk, her palms flat, eyes menacing and growled at the screen.

"If you think for one moment I'm going to help you willingly after all you've done, you've got another thing coming. _Big time_."

At that moment the tall bookshelf on the other side of the room slid out of place and the hidden metal door behind it swished open.

"Kay, I don't remember you having such a temper before you left."

"Bite me Carlson," she snapped, feeling a little bit guilty for it. The agent had always been kind to her, but at the moment he was merely a symbol of her oppressors. One she could probably take in a fight at that, "have you come to take me to the Director?"

Agent Carlson smiled warmly but Kelly did not return it.

"You know we can't do that, Kay."

"Stop calling me that," she advanced toward him and two security agents appeared at his elbows, Kelly instantly recognized them as the ones from Abby's apartment. Even so, she didn't stop moving until she was nose to nose with the other man, "take me to the Director or your people keep dying."

The man's eyes narrowed, "how did you-the file didn't have any of those details."

"It's called deductive reasoning, Gary," she interrupted, the ice in her voice tempered only by the fact that she could still taste the sweetness of chloroform in the back of her throat and didn't want to tempt the guards to give her another dose, "my guess is the Agency was never fooled by my little 'died and gone to heaven' act so you've had eyes and ears on me for a while, which I'm a little curious about since I swept the place for bugs everyday," her glare deepened and the agent fought to keep his face neutral, "and now, all out of the blue I find myself back here? No way you guys would risk my dad blowing up Agency HQ with all of you inside it unless it was important."

Carlson tipped his head to one side, "he wouldn't."

She raised an eyebrow in a way that would have given anyone else Gibbs déjà vu, "wouldn't he?" she gave him a straight stare, "now, which way to the Director?"

For several seconds the man tried to out-glare her, but Kelly remained stubborn and refused to bend. Finally Carlson sighed and stepped to one side, lifting his arm in invitation and pointed to the right.

Kelly brushed past him, sending the security guard a glare as she went by.

---

"Name?"

"Kelly."

The blonde woman behind the check-in desk lifted her eyes from her computer screen. The silver-haired man who was currently leaning far over the counter, a look of pure determination and fury in his eyes definitely did not strike her as a 'Kelly'.

"That's _you're_ name?"

"No. That's who I'm here for. I want her down here," his voice was deceptively soft and sending nervous tremors down her spine, "now."

She pursed her lips, glancing surreptitiously at the guard standing off to one side near the elevators.

"Last name and department?"

"Gibbs and wherever you keep the abductees," he said with feigned nonchalance.

Her eyes flashed up to his again and he raised an eyebrow at her incredulous look, leaning forward.

"Here's a hint, you work for the CIA, not the Lollipop Council," he slammed his open hand on the counter, startling the receptionist and capturing the attention of almost everyone in the lobby, "now either get her in here or I start taking hostages of my own."

---

Kelly was too worked up on anger and adrenalin to sit still and instead was pacing the length of the conference room. She'd sat in too many breifings in this room to ever be comfortabe sitting there again anyway.

"So did it never occur to you guys just to_ ask _ for my help?" She asked once he'd finished explaining the current predicament the Agency found itself in.

Director Ellis, a tall, imposing man in his early sixties, shifted in his seat with a gesture reminiscent of a shrug, "You would have said 'no'."

"Damn straight I would have," Kelly snapped back, resisting the urge to lob heavy objects in his smug, presumptious, sneaky, underhanded and overweight direction. Just to be sure, she kept away from the sculptures on the table and the plaques on the shelves.

"Exactly, and we couldn't risk it," he gave her a level stare, "the fate and security of the entire nation could rest on what you're calculations dig up."

Kelly rolled her eyes, "forgive me, director, for not being exactly concerned with the fate of an entire nation when I can't even sleep in the confines of my own home without worrying about bugs and cameras and masked men climbing in my window to carry me off!"

Ellis took a deep breath, "fine. Name your terms."

Kelly suddenly stopped pacing and turned to him, "what?"

"What's it going to take for me to make this right so you will work with us? Name your terms."

Kelly paused a moment and then stepped forward, "I want out of here. I'll work on the information from home."

"Done."

"And I want to read in my team."

"You're team?" Ellis asked, sounding skeptical.

"Yes. Abby Scuito, Tim McGee, Ziva David, Tony DiNozzo, Leroy Jethro Gibbs," she said the last name slowly, allowing the threat the mere mention of his name implied, to shine through, "My team. They're all on the 'need to know' list."

"Not gonna happen. It's called 'need to know' for a reason, Kay. They don't."

"Like hell," she growled, taking another step forward, "you have no idea the amount of time, resources and energy that goes into creating the kind of algorithms you're talking about. The depth of information I'll have to sort and assign is astronomical. I _can'_ _t_ do it alone and I _won't_ work with anyone else. You want me, you get them too. End of discussion."

The Director hesitated, gritting his teeth as he attempted to stare her down. Under other circumstances, it might have worked, but not this time. There was too much at stake this time.

After what felt like an eternity he nodded, "fine. Anything else?"

"Yeah. When I fix this and get your sorry ass from the sling, I want out. For good. No more bugs, no more surveillance. No. More. Kidnapping. You want my help, you hire me as a consultant, just like everybody else. No monopolizing the genius. Deal?"

Ellis stared hard at her for several minutes, his eyes narrow and lips pursed.

Kelly stood up and crossed her arms, "of course, if you know of someone else who can do what I do, as fast and as well as I do it. By all means, call them up."

At this the Director sighed, standing to his full height and straightening his jacket.

"Fine. Its a deal, Kay," he proffered his hand to her where he held a flash drive containing all the pertinent information.

She didn't look away from his face as she pulled it from his fingers, "The name's Kelly."

Then she turned and made her way to the door, not waiting to be dismissed, but paused before turning the door handle.

"And if you don't hold up your end of the deal you just made me, I promise you it will be a bigger problem for you than it will for me."

"Is that a threat?" The director asked, his voice dangerous in it's incredulity.

"Of course not sir, the CIA doesn't make threats," she turned to look at him, "anymore than they kidnap children and exploit them for their own gain."

She left the office and outside she found, hovering in the same position as he'd been in before, one of the guards who'd abducted her from Abby's. Without word or warning, she whirled around on him, sucker punching him in the gut as she passed, sure the only reason she'd gotten the drop was that he was still somewhat distracted talking to the Director's receptionist.

"That's for Abby," she hissed.

Carlson watched as the small girl stepped around the seething guard and raised an eyebrow at her as she passed him, moving swiftly toward the elevator. Unsure of what to say, he didn't speak when he input a six digit code and scanned his iris to let them onto the lift that took them back to ground level.

"Kelly I-"

"Save it," she snapped, "you're just as guilty in all this as he is."

"I was just following orders, Kelly."

She turned to look at him finally as the car slowed to a stop, "that's really no excuse Evan."

The doors opened and they were met with the sound of commotion in the lobby.

"I need some more security down here," the small receptionist mumbled into her phone. In front of the counter stood a very agitated, very loud, Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

"Bring security, hell bring the whole damn ARMY. It's not going to stop me from getting my daughter."

"You should probably just do what he says," Everyone turned as Kelly emerged from a restricted hallway with a smile on her face that looked braver than she felt, "he's just impossible when he gets like this."

"Kelly," Gibbs was already walking toward her, his eyes quickly assessing her to find no obvious sign of injury. Either way, he was glad he'd left his SIG in the car, there was only so much he could take.

"Doesn't rule Twenty one plainly state that the best way to get what you want is never to ask, just take?"

Gibbs half-smiled, "I decided to take the high road this time."

Kelly smiled, "pity."

Gibbs raised his hands to her face, "you alright?"

His concern melted her resolve to keep up the brave face and her smile faltered.

"Dad," the word came out teary and barely audible, but before she had a chance to repeat herself they were wrapped up in each other's arms, holding too tightly. Afraid to let go.

"Get me out of here, please," Kelly whispered in his ear, and not just because everyone in the lobby had turned to look at them and security was coming up the stairs.

He nodded, and turned, pulling her alongside him as the two turned their backs on CIA HQ and headed out into the parking lot, where Gibbs had broken just about every parking law on the books by stopping his car sideways in a fire zone.

"Where's Tony?" She asked softly when they'd climbed into the sedan, trying to distract herself from memories of the place now filling the rearview mirror.

"At NCIS, working leads to find you," Gibbs responded, and Kelly pretend not to notice how often he was glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, as if to assure himself she was really still there. She couldn't really blame him. She was having a hard time believing it herself right now.

Kelly nodded and slumped against the window, allowing her eyes to drift shut.

Upon seeing this, Gibbs resolved to resist the urge to demand she explain what had just happened. He wanted answers and would usually not stop until he'd gotten them.

But the sight of Kelly dozing in the passenger seat calmed some of the pit bull in him, and he allowed the ride back to DC to pass in silence.

_TBC_


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **_Okay, I feel that now I should make it known, I'm a little bit of a review junkie. Okay, a lot bit. I'm not going to say I won't post if I don't get reviews, cuz that's whiny and stupid. But I am saying, for future reference, reviews make me happy. Very happy. Don't you want to make me happy?? Even one-word reviews are enough to give me a Caf-Pow! worthy jolt... : )_ -Sound famliar? I wrote that as my desperate and pathetic plea for reviews in the last fic. Um...just so everybody knows...it's still true. :-D -pj

---

"I've hit a dead end on the blood sample I took from my apartment but don't think for _one moment_ I've given up," Abby stood in the middle of the squad room, gesturing as she spoke to the team.

She was nervous, Kelly had been missing for nearly eight hours at this point and Gibbs as well for the last five. As a result, she was talking a little bit too fast and a little bit too loud, but no one commented, "I'm also analyzing the chemical compound of the rag used to render me unconscious. It may lead me to a manufacturer and buyer."

"McGee?" Tony barked, his back to Abby and Ziva's desk. He stared intently at the pictures of the crime scene on the plasma, rotating through them over and over, hoping to find something they'd missed.

"I'm still checking traffic cams surrounding Abby's place, trying to get a picture of our abductor's vehicle." McGee answered, never taking his eyes off his computer.

"Ziva?"

There was a slight pause and then Ziva sounding somewhat uncertain as she answered Tony's call.

"I've...found her."

Three heads whipped around and followed her gaze to the elevator where Gibbs was walking out, his hand at the back of a shaken and exhausted looking Kelly, drowning in his suit coat since her tank top and jeans provided no protection against the stiff late summer breeze.

It wasn't as if her captors had stopped and allowed her to grab her jacket.

"Oh my God ohmyGod," Abby shot across the squad room and opened her arms, crushing her friend to her with all worry she'd been holding in for eight hours straight and the relief at finally seeing her that flooded out. With a relieved smile, Kelly returned the embrace.

"Abby, you're ok."

The other woman pulled back, forgetting that the last time Kelly had seen her, she'd been an unconscious heap on her entryway floor.

"Of course I'm ok. Are you okay?" Abby asked earnestly, searching Kelly's face and torso for hidden injury.

Kelly gave her a half smile and flicked her eyes at Gibbs, who was still standing protectively at her elbow.

"I'm alive. Whether or not I'm 'okay' is TBD."

Abby gave her a sorrowful look and pulled her into another hug. Seeing that the two needed a minute, and feeling the weary and confused, albeit relieved, gazes of the rest of his team on him, Gibbs gave Kelly a quick kiss on her hair, smoothing it down the back of her head before stepping away from the pair toward the rest.

Ziva, McGee and Tony all gathered around his desk, though Tony kept glancing worriedly over his shoulder at Kelly.

"Boss?"

"Was it them, Gibbs?"

McGee and Ziva spoke in unison but Tony remained silent, waiting impatiently for their boss to explain the situation.

"Tony," Gibbs wasn't looking at the senior agent, but at Abby and Kelly as the two, arm in arm, slowly walked over to join the group, "take Kelly for coffee."

"But-" Immediately Kelly tried to protest, but Gibbs silenced her with a shake of his head.

"No 'buts'," he captured her eyes with his, "go."

Kelly pursed her lips. She didn't have time for his over-protective tendencies right now. She had a job to do. She had equations to write and a team to read in. Sure, it would be difficult to type or write with her hands shaking as much as they were, but then, that was why she kept Tony around, wasn't it?

Then, as if sensing his presence in her thoughts, Tony was at her side threading his arm around her waist. Her resolve softened into oblivion and she allowed him to lead her away from the rest and back toward the elevator she'd just exited moments before.

"Meet us in Abby's lab in half an hour to read us in," Gibbs stood to be heard over the short separating walls of the squad room. Both Tony and Kelly nodded and stepped onto the lift. Gibbs caught sight of his daughter falling into Tony's chest once the doors began to close. Tony's arms wrapped around her protectively, his chin resting on her head and his eyes fell closed with unmasked relief and Gibbs felt the tight knot of tension in his gut loosen minutely, knowing she was in good hands.

He turned back to find three sets of concerned eyes still staring at him.

"Gibbs?" Ziva said quietly, "you called her 'Kelly'."

Abby and McGee exchanged a look, neither of them had caught it, but now that Ziva said it they realized it was true. And Gibbs never, not even when he was irritated and arguing with her at home alone, never risked slipping up and calling her by her real name. They turned back to their boss, knowing the implications of what he'd done.

Gibbs' eyes hardened, his face unreadable as he answered with a simple, "yeah."

Abby gasped and Tim frowned, Ziva's look darkening, though she didn't seem surprised.

"It _was_ them, then."

Gibbs didn't respond. And that was confirmation enough for the rest.

---

Tony held Kelly to him for several seconds, beating down the demons that had lurked in the darkness of his mind for the hours she'd been missing. Eight years, three different forces and countless gruesome homicides had left no stone unturned in the 'worst case scenarios department' of his brain, but they were all smashed into oblivion now that he had her here in his arms again. Safe.

"You okay?" he pulled back to cup her face with his hands, gently smoothing her hair away from her eyes.

Kelly took a deep breath and nodded, "I'll be fine."

"It was them, wasn't it?" he asked, his voice quiet, the way it always got when he was being serious, the low timbre of his voice sending shivers down her spine.

She nodded again "they needed – need - my help."

"Son of a bitch."

"My feelings exactly," she gave him an 'what can you do_'_ shrug as the elevator doors pinged open and instantly they wiped the grave looks from their faces to smile at the guards.

"Hey Barney. Max," Kelly waved and the short but muscular men gave her a slight nod in return. They exited to the parking lot in front of the building.

"What are you doing? We're going for coffee, aren't we?" she asked, protesting the hand at her back that was trying to lead her toward the cars, "we can walk to the coffee place from here."

Tony didn't look at her but continued to urge her in the same direction, "we're not going for coffee."

"We're not?" Kelly stopped short.

He hesitated and then turned back, facing her, "I'm taking you home."

"No. No you're not," she said, her brow wrinkling and she shook her head, "I have work to do, Tony."

Tony gave her an incredulous look, "you're going to work for them? After-"

"I'm not working _for_ them, Tony," she cut him off sharply, "I'm working _with_ them."

"Oh, yeah. 'Cause that's _so_ much better."

Kelly's eyes flashed, "_What_? You're the only one allowed to do anything meaningful with their life now?" she asked, raising her voice, feeling her cheeks grow warm with anger.

"That's not what I meant," Tony said, beginning to pace in front of her, unable to keep still. Kelly remained static, not missing a beat.

"Then what _did _you mean? Because my calculations have the potential to save lives. They have before and they will again."

"And there's no one else they can find to do it?" He demanded hotly, his antagonism not directed so much at her as it was at the people at 'The Agency'. The people who'd snatched Kelly from Abby's apartment and therefore been putting him through a living hell for the past half a day, but that was a little more articulation than he was capable of at the moment.

"No! There's no one else. It's my _job_, Tony. It's what I do, what I'm good at."

Tony shook his head, hands on his hips.

"You haven't slept in nearly two days," he pointed out, trying a different tack.

"That's why I need coffee," she said, flinging her arm in the direction she had been headed before this whole thing began.

"You were kidnapped last night!"

"I'm aware, Tony. Believe it or not I was there."

"Kelly, I'm just trying to protect you."

"A little late for that, don't you think?"

Tony blinked, looking as if he'd been slapped. Kelly's eyes widened slightly, realizing what she'd said and she immediately felt guilty. Turning on her heel she rushed past him, unable to stand the sight of the vulnerability that still lingered in his eyes. Tony took a slow, deep breath as he watched her go. His mind was blank, he had no idea how to respond to that.

_What the hell? _

He allowed his shoulders to slump now that he was alone and rubbed a hand across his face. Though he debated letting her go, have some much needed space, in the end the fear of what might happen to her when she was out of his sight won out over his wounded pride and he took off after her at a jog.

---

"So…we're going to help…the CIA?" Ziva was first to speak after a long silence that followed Kelly's explanation of the day's events, and the question came out slow and hesitant, as if she just wanted to be sure she'd translated everything correctly in her brain.

Kelly scrunched up her face, "ugh, it sounds so dirty if you say it like that."

A slight smirk flitted across Gibbs' face.

"A series of assassinations and attempted assassinations on high ranking government officials from all branches of the government and their respective agencies, along with an unknown information leak, and you're first kidnapped, and then hired by the CIA to figure it out?" Ziva defended herself, "it _sounds_ as if we are helping them, yes?"

"No. We're not helping them," Kelly clarified. She stood at the end of the table in Abby's lab, with her hands crossed over her chest. To her right and left were Abby and Gibbs respectively, on Abby's right was McGee, on Gibbs' Ziva and directly across from her at the other end of the table, and as far away from her as he could possibly get, Tony. She tightened her arms around herself.

"We're helping me. I mean...if you want to," she added quietly, dropping her eyes.

"Do you even have to ask? Of course we'll help," Abby piped up reassuringly.

Kelly smiled.

"Okay, but why does the CIA need your help in the first place?" McGee asked.

"Because there simply isn't enough manpower or resources available to sufficiently protect all the potential targets. I mean, just the Senate, House and Presidential Cabinet alone are nearly five hundred people. My job is to mathematically predict who's at most risk so adequate preventative measures can be taken without wasting assets."

She glanced around the table again, her tone losing the slightly excited bounce it held when she talked about her math as she continued, "but I want you all to realize what you'd be getting into. No one can know what we're doing, the people in this room are the sum total of the need to know list, not even the director or Ducky can find out," she glanced at Gibbs, "and I'm dealing with the Devil known as Director Sam Ellis of the CIA so if any of you want out, I won't think less of you."

She looked up to find herself being leveled with Abby, McGee and Ziva's even stares. None blinking, none hesitant, all wholly committed to seeing this thing through. When they fell to Tony she could see the commitment in his eyes as well, but tempered with a cool professionalism that made Kelly feel the temperature in the room had just gone down several degees. She dropped her eyes. Gibbs noticed and glanced subtly between her and Tony a few times, but said nothing.

"Thanks guys," she whispered, tears of emotions she couldn't quite place heavy in her voice.

She received marginal nods from around the table, as if to say 'don't mention it', and Gibbs raised one arm, beckoning her to him with a tilt of his head. Giving him an embarrassed half smile, she shifted over, snuggling into his side and resting her head on his shoulder. He dropped his arm to wrap around her and turned to look at the team.

"So, any ideas?"

McGee was the first to speak up, his analytical brain already assessing and calculating the possibilities.

"We'll need access to all the information on all the crimes committed so far."

Before he'd finished speaking Kelly had reached into her pocket, pulled out a flash drive and tossed it to him, all without removing herself from the safety of Gibbs' embrace.

"O-kay. That was easy."

Kelly snorted.

"We also need to set up a few closed circuit computers, linked for sharing files and data storage but impossible to hack from outside.

"On it," Abby turned and disappeared into a storage locker off the back of the ballistics lab.

"Once that is set up I'm going to need all of your help in decrypting and organizing the data so I can start writing algorithms and creating threat assessments for Ellis." Kelly said, looking at the remaining team members.

"Well we can't do that here," Ziva noted, "a secret does not stay secret for long amongst these halls."

"My place," Gibbs said, solving the problem with two words. Then added under his breath, "you people are always there anyway."

Kelly rolled her eyes and grinned at his characteristic grumpiness. It was true, there had been a lot more 'team movie night's and 'team poker tournament's at the Gibbs' house since Kelly had come home, but she wasn't fooled by the former Marine rough façade. He liked it, even if he would never admit it.

"Okay then, we're all set?" Tony asked, glancing quickly around the table, "then I have work to do."

He left the room quickly, hardly making eye contact with anyone and McGee and Ziva exchanged glances. Gibbs looked down at Kelly, whose grip had tightened on him minutely as Tony passed.

Without a word of explanation he planted another quick kiss on her hair and extracted himself from her arms and turning to leave the lab after Tony.

"Um…" she turned back and Ziva and McGee just shrugged.

"You think Gibbs'll kill him?" McGee asked.

"It wouldn't surprise me. It's been a long time coming." Ziva said casually.

Kelly rolled her eyes and turned to leave the way Tony and Gibbs had gone.

"I think there's a rule that applies here," McGee said thoughtfully a few seconds later.

"Really?" Ziva turned, sounding mildly interested.

"Yeah…rule forty-six?"

"Always suspect the spouse?"

"Or maybe it's eighteen."

"It's better to ask forgiveness than permission."

"No…oh yeah, rule Fifty-One."

"There is no fifty-"

"Never date the Boss' daughter."

"Ah," Ziva nodded, looking toward the door where a rather tense conversation looked to be happening between Kelly, Tony and Gibbs. She slid her eyes back to the other agent, "very good, McGee."

_TBC_


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: ** Big thanks to the ones that reviewed last chap **poohbear123 **and **finlaure **and mel who reviewed the first chap. You too **AlphaRomeo25, Donna Q, blarney **and** chiroho**. You have me on alert, which is almost as good as a review, so much luv to you too! To all the lurkers, my muse inspired this chapter especially for you. She's found cliffees inspire the masses to speak. :) -pj

---

"DiNozzo."

Tony closed his eyes briefly before turning around.

"Yeah Gibbs?" he asked, not really trying to hide his defensive tone.

"Everything alright?" Gibbs asked, his tone was carefully neutral.

The question threw Tony off and he frowned a little. He'd expected accusations right off the bat.

"Um, yeah. Of course it is. Why wouldn't it be?" He smiled, but dropped it when Gibbs did not seem to be amused.

"Oh, I don't know, I sensed some tension in there," he jerked his head in the direction of the lab and Tony sighed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"That your famous gut telling you that, Gibbs?"

Gibbs raised an eyebrow, "No, my failing eyesight."

"Look, it's fine, okay. Kelly and I are handling it."

"Handling it, DiNozzo?" Gibbs dropped his voice and took another step closer, Tony made great effort not to back down. He couldn't back down on this.

"Yeah Bo-Gibbs," he continued, catching himself before he called him 'Boss'. He wasn't his Boss right now, he was his girlfriends' father. Gibbs noticed the near slip and narrowed his eyes slightly at the change. "We're handling it. And no, you don't need to remind me of what you'll break if I hurt her."

"Good," He paused and tilted his head slightly, "I don't give reminders."

Tony took another deep breath, "I know," he tried to sound reassuring, though the anger he felt building he knew was justified, he didn't allow it to taint his voice.

He couldn't honestly guilt Gibbs for being so protective, he even respected him for it, Tony would be the same way if in the older man's position. Finding out a daughter he'd thought dead for more than a decade was alive and having her thrust back into his life? He was amazed the girl was allowed to leave the house.

Of course, just because he understood didn't mean he had to like it.

"Kelly and I are just having a…a disagreement and…"

"…and it's none of your concern, Dad," Kelly suddenly appeared beside her father and looked up at him determinedly, "and like Tony said, it's handled."

Gibbs didn't look over at her, instead took another half step forward until his nose was inches from Tony's. He held his gaze for a moment and Tony met it head on. Then, rather suddenly, he stepped to the side and entered the elevator.

Tony and Kelly both sagged with relief when Gibbs disappeared behind the lift doors and gave one another uncomfortable smiles.

"Sorry about that," Kelly said, gesturing toward the elevator.

"What? Him?" Tony shrugged, "you get used to it."

Kelly raised an eyebrow with a small smirk.

Tony winced, "okay, okay…so he scares the crap out of me. After seven years, I think I'll survive," he smiled and Kelly laughed softly.

The doors opened once again and they stepped inside without a word. They were halfway to the squad room before Kelly reached over and flipped the emergency stop switch, stopping their ascent and bathing the small room in blue light.

"Whoa, deja vu."

"Tony I," she looked down at her feet, up at him, and then back down again, "about what I said before…"

"Don't worry about it-"

"But I _am _worrying about it," she bit her lip, "I didn't mean it, Tony. I was angry and tired," Tony raised his eyebrows at her and she smiled sheepishly, "I never said I wasn't tired, just that I didn't have time to sleep," Tony rolled his eyes and she shrugged, "but that's no excuse. I shouldn't have said what I said. I-I'm sorry."

Tony frowned, "never apologize, it's a sign of weakness."

"Not when said to a friend," she hesitated, "or…to someone you love."

Tony narrowed his eyes, a slow grin spreading on his face, "you love me?"

She shrugged and looked away, her cheeks growing hot, "most of the time," she started to reach for the emergency switch to start the elevator again.

Tony stayed her hand with one of his and then hooked a finger under her chin, turning her to look at him. He took her lips with his, they were soft and warm in a way that was now burned into his memory for the sole purpose of torturing him when she wasn't around. Kelly immediately returned the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck to push back against him.

Kelly knew he wasn't going to say it back, at least not at first, and it surprised her that that didn't bother her. If there was anything she'd come to expect from Tony DiNozzo, it was that he did everything his own way and in his own time.

She smiled as he laid his hands on her hips, pulling her closer.

She was certain she could find a way survive the wait.

---

"Leave it to the CIA to double encrypt the very information they want someone to use," Abby grumbled. She and McGee had been working at decrypting the information on Kelly's flash drive for the better part of three hours, and so far still had at least four gigs of information to go.

They were all gathered around Gibbs' kitchen table with half a dozen computers, which Abby wouldn't say where she got, spread out between them and a chalkboard against the wall that Gibbs had surprised them all by pulling out from under the basement stairs and setting up for Kelly.

"Well they're just not a very trusting group of people down at the good old CIA," Tony drawled, he was leaning against the wall in the corner with the laptop pulled up on his lap and a cup of coffee beside him.

"Sounds like Mossad," Ziva quipped, seated at the table with McGee and Abby. She sipped some tea lightly and continued going through the files that had already been decrypted, "the third murder was another gunshot wound to the head. A sniper shot, execution style."

"Proffesional," Gibbs scrolled through information on his own computer and glanced at Kelly as she scribbled a few things on the chalkboard.

"Just like Admiral Rollins and the two CIA operatives, Moore and Yankee," she turned to look at Tony, "what about the two that were in Florida? Knifings right?"

"I guess you could call it that," Tony minimized one window on his computer and maximized another, "straight slash of their throats, messy but effective.

"Military precision," Ziva added, raising an eyebrow at Gibbs, who nodded, confirming her suspicions.

Kelly turned back to the board and set her hands on her hips, getting chalk all over the bottom of her black top, "okay, correct me if I'm wrong, but these do not all feel like the same killer. Four were shot by snipers. Two had their throats slashed and three more had their necks snapped," she frowned thoughtfully at the board, "but all were high ranking members of government organizations, none were linked in any other way except that they're dead and there were no witnesses to any of the crimes. These aren't personal."

She turned and looked at Gibbs, who narrowed his eyes, catching her drift.

"They were hits."

Tony tilted his head and jumped to his feet, "Ziva bring up a map of the murders, the locations."

Ziva did so and Tony came to hover over her shoulder, "yeah. Look at that," Tony looked up at Gibbs, "all the neck jobs were on the upper east coast in Boston or less than an hours drive outside. The slashings were in Florida and the shootings were near the DC area."

"Work for hire hitmen. The nearest to the targets were the most convienent to use," Ziva said.

"Great, that's just _perfect_."

They all looked up, Kelly had turned back to her chalkboard. Her words said 'perfect' but her tone said 'anything but'.

"What is it Kell?"

Kelly shook her head and then turned to look at Gibbs, smiling bitterly, "hired guns? How am I supposed to predict where the next murder will happen if there's nothing to link the previous murders to one another?"

"Well, we'll have to figure out who hired them, yes?" Ziva glanced first at Gibbs, then at Tony.

"Yeah, which is next to impossible since we don't know _who_ they are, _who_ they're working for or what they want. And without a that, I don't know who they'll hit next!" Kelly cursed and slammed the chalk on the table, causing McGee and Abby to jump, who'd been so focused on cracking the code that they hadn't heard the growing tension in Kelly's voice.

"Kelly," Tony started.

"Don't just-" she cut him off and took a deep breath, pressing her dusty hands to her face, "I'm sorry I just…need a second."

Ziva and Tony looked at Abby and McGee and they all turned to Gibbs. His blue eyes watched his daughter carefully for several seconds. Though the stress wasn't good for her, knew she could handle it and turned back to his computer, deciding to give her what she'd asked for. The team followed his lead and returned to what they'd been doing on their own.

Kelly's cell phone vibrated in her pocket and she pulled it out, glancing quickly at the caller ID she rolled her eyes and turned to lean against the wall.

"Gibbs," she answered.

Tony looked up at that and saw a quick smile pass over Gibbs face.

"_Dammit!_ Already?!"

Everyone looked over but Kelly now stood with her back to the room, one hand on her hip, the other holding the phone to her ear where her head was bowed nearly to her chest.

"Alright alright, just," she exhaled harshly and lifted her face, "email me everything you have on him. I want to know where he worked, lived, slept and breathed since the moment he was born until two hours ago," there was a brief pause in which Ziva turned to Tony and raised her eyebrows.

"Oh yes, she's definitely a Gibbs," she said quietly.

Tony nodded his agreement.

"Then _find a way_."

They turned back to Kelly as she nearly snapped the head off the person on the other end of the phone, "secure fax or encrypted email I don't care. Send it by damn bicycle courier just get me the data," she slammed the phone shut and everyone stayed motionless for several seconds. Kelly took a few deep breaths and then turned to look at the team, her face from her chin to her forehead was beet red, testament to how worked up she'd gotten on the phone.

"There's been another murder," she said evenly, "Another CIA agent. Executive Assistant Director Norman Hayes."

She met each of their faces slowly, biting her lip and Gibbs saw the shutters slam shut behind her eyes, hoping to lock him out of seeing the guilt in them.

"Kelly, there was nothing you could have done," Abby said, and Gibbs knew he was not the only one that had seen it.

She shook her head, "I wish I could believe that, Abbs."

"Why don't you?" Gibbs couldn't help but ask. He knew he should have softened his tone some, but he also knew the way guilt could eat away at a person, and he wasn't prepared to let Kelly go through that.

Kelly looked at him disbelievingly, "Because Dad, if I could've just-just figured this out," she turned back to the chalkboard, scowling at it, "another man wouldn't be dead. That makes ten altogether and I'm still no closer to figuring out why it's happening or when there will be another. And I sure as hell don't know who's behind it," she was practically shouting, and startled them all when she turned to slam her fist into the wall, immediately drawing blood from split skin.

"Alright," immediately Gibbs was standing and he caught her upper arm, "you need some sleep." He'd been resisting the urge to say it for a few hours now, knowing she'd been awake for nearly two days straight and also knowing it wouldn't do him any good. Stubborness was hereditary.

But now he simply wasn't going to accept 'no' as an answer.

"Wait, no," Kelly pulled her arm free and stepped back, "I'm sorry okay. I'm a little stressed but I can't sleep. I have work to do."

"And you'll do it better when you have fresh eyes in a couple of hours," he continued to try and urge her toward the stairs.

"You don't get it!" Kelly snapped, her eyes suddenly blue pools of fire, and the tension in the room tripled, "how am I supposed to sleep now? There's somebody out there ordering hits on high ranking government officials and I haven't even _started_ to make progress on who it is. How am I supposed to sleep when you or Jenny could be next?"

Everyone fell silent and still. Kelly and Gibbs stood toe to toe, McGee and Abby looked like deer caught in headlights, Tony was tense and ready for action and Ziva was just waiting for the shit to hit the air conditioner.

Gibbs was the first to speak, his tone much softer than before, "is that what you're afraid of?"

"It's one of the things on a rather lengthy list but yeah. Like or it or not you two fit the profile of the victims and I-" she stopped short and some of the defiance leaked out of her. She finished in a whisper, "I just don't want anything to happen to you."

Gibbs smiled reassuringly at her and touched her cheek, leaning over to kiss it gently the way he'd done to Abby so many times, "nothing's gonna happen to me, baby."

Kelly was now swallowing repeatedly and she wouldn't look up at him, "I wanna believe you dad but-"

"Then believe me."

Kelly sighed, resigned and finally brought her eyes back up to his. It was the unwavering confidence in them that finally assured her and she nodded.

"Okay."

"Good. Now, you're still going upstairs to get some sleep. You haven't slept in over two days."

"Well neither has anybody else," Kelly immediately protested, gesturing around the room at the coffee that set beside everyone's computer.

"It's different for us," McGee piped up with a small smile. Kelly gave him a look.

"How?"

"We're used to Gibbs' slave driver tendencies," Abby finished, grinning at the glare Gibbs threw at her. But it accomplished it's intended purpose and Kelly smiled.

"You guys are handling me." She informed them with her hands on her hips. Gibbs smirked as Tony stepped forward, taking her hand to lead her to the stairs.

"Bet your cute little ass we are," he said, pushing her up ahead of him. Before he could follow a piece of crumpled up paper hit him in the side of his head and he cleared his throat, "I mean…yes. We are. Ma'am." And he ducked up the stairs after his girlfriend before Gibbs got a chance to reload.

"I better see _you're_ little ass back down here in two minutes DiNozzo," came a shouted warning.

Kelly laughed at Tony's grimace and flopped down on her bed, not bothering to turn her light on since the open window allowed the full moon set the whole room alight.

"He's not nearly as scary as you all seem to think, you know," she said, turning on her side to make room for Tony to sit beside her and hugging her pillow.

"Easy for you to say, he's never slapped you," Tony said, affectionately tucking her hair behind her ear so he could see her face.

"I guess," she grinned, but it came across lop sided as the exhaustion she'd been fighting suddenly grabbed hold of her full force and seemed to be demanding she close her eyes.

With a soft smile Tony leaned down to brush his lips against hers and with the last of her energy reserves, Kelly returned the gesture.

She felt the bed shift with the loss of his weight and his heat and smell left with him.

"Tony?" she said, lifting her head.

"Yeah?" He stopped, halfway from the door and turned to look at her.

"Could you-" she didn't get a chance to finish. The sound of a crack like thunder followed by breaking glass and a rush of air filled the room. Tony fell and she hardly heard his pained grunt as he hit the floor over the sound of her scream.

---

_TBC - unless, of course, you guys are cool with me leaving it there? ;-P  
_


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Muhahaha!! (that was an evil laugh for anyone who was wondering) the Muse was right, as always. Cliffees ARE the best way to get reviews!! I do apologize for resorting to such measures, but I _did _get a whopping 10 reviews for the last chapter. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! Seriously. You should have seen the stupid-big grin on my face. It was embarressing. So now, without any further guilding the lily and no more adeiu, I give you as requested...more. -pj

---

Gibbs' head whipped up at the sound of gunfire, and he was out of his seat, SIG in hand and on his way to the stairs almost before the tell-tale thud of someone hitting the floor vibrated through the house. Ziva was on his six and McGee right behind her, Abby having the good sense to bring up the rear but not by much.

"Kelly?" Gibbs yelled at the top of the stairs, allowing his weapon to lead him as he made his way quickly down the hallway.

"Dad! Dad in here, oh my God," came Kelly's anguished cry from her bedroom.

Gibbs burst inside, immediately zeroing in on the broken window and then Tony and Kelly, more than 20 years of experience and training allowing him to take everything in at once. Tony lay on the floor and had a blood stain growing across his shirt and pooling on the floor around him, and Kelly's face was twelve shades whiter than it should have been while she fought to stem the flow of blood with her hands.

"McGee, Ziva," he barked and the other two agents fanned out to the right and left, securing the room while he knelt beside his agent.

"I'm fine, Boss," Tony said, his voice strained. He was pale as well and his hands were covered in blood up to his elbows from trying to help Kelly hold a small blanket she'd pulled from her bed on the wound.

"You are not fine. You've been shot, Tony!" Kelly practically shrieked and felt a reassuring hand at her back. She bit her lip to try and keep it from trembling and hopefully prevent herself from continuing to rave like a lunatic. Her entire body shook and tears were streaming down her face but she tried not to notice. Her father was there, everything would be aright now, so she ignored the feeling of Tony' s warm, sticky blood between her fingers and instead focused on breathing evenly and watching Tony's chest for up and down movement.

Tony kept his eyes locked on Gibbs, "a through and through Boss...didn't see a...shooter."

"EMTs are on their way," McGee said, closing his phone and taking a step forward, looking down at his injured partner and the Gibbs, "ETA 5 min."

"It looks to have been a sniper shot from one of your neighbor's roofs," Ziva called, her gun at ready as she surveyed the surrounding area through the window. Broken glass crunched beneath her feet as she shifted to turn back toward them. A breeze flew by the window and pulled Kelly's thin sheer curtains outside, "whoever did this is long gone by now."

"Tony," Abby stood in the doorway, her face ashen and eyes wide and bright. Usually when one of the team was injured on the job she saw them long afterward, when they were in the hospital, cleaned up and well on their way to recovery. She'd never been there for the aftermath. She swallowed to keep down the bile rising in her throat, "I'm, um, going to go wave down the ambulance," she started away from the doorway and then came back, "positive thoughts everyone, Tony? That means you."

A smile kicked up the corner of his mouth for a split second before pain rocketed through his veins, "always, Abbs," he managed to croak out.

Gibbs was frowning deeply at the mangled mess of bed sheet covering Tony's wound and gently pried away the hands that were holding it in place, "let me, Kell." He said quietly.

Kelly didn't respond at first so he covered her hands with his and she jumped at the contact.

"Let me," he repeated, keeping his voice steady for both her benefit and Tony's.

She swallowed and nodded distractedly, pulling her hands away and hesitating before she wiped them on her jeans. Tony closed his eyes and hissed as Gibbs took over applying pressure.

"Just hang on Tony," Gibbs said softly,

"On it, Boss," he whispered, and they were the last words spoken until the EMTs arrived.

---

Abby bit her lip and shifted in her chair, bouncing her right and left feet in turn, unable to keep still. She felt a little bit like she did after she'd had too many Caf-Pows, jumpy, unfocused, but she hadn't had one of her beloved treats in nearly twelve hours.

To her left Ziva was sitting in the same position she had been since they'd arrived at the hospital, her back stick-straight, her eyes staring blankly ahead at the opposite wall. Beside Ziva McGee had his hands clasped in front of himself, frowning at the white linoleum floor that had no doubt seen many similarly worried stares.

Then there was Kelly, who was pacing the width of the small hallway that doubled as a waiting area, and chewing her right thumbnail absently, her eyes always trained on the doors to Emergency Trauma where they'd been strictly forbidden to enter. Of course, that hadn't stopped Gibbs. He'd been the one to ride with Tony to the hospital and after assuring them all that through and throughs were the best case scenario as long as it didn't hit anything important, and patiently ignoring Kelly who'd insisted the 'best case scenario was not getting shot in the first place', he had gone to find out how Tony was doing.

That had been twenty minutes ago and he still wasn't back.

Abby shifted in her chair again and resisted the urge to stand and walk to the vending machine, knowing she would just stare at it for a few minutes, only to return empty handed. Just like the last four times.

She closed her eyes against the harsh fluorescent lighting of the waiting area. She could deal with this part. The waiting. The waiting she was used to, she could handle this. She nodded to assure herself of this fact and then opened her eyes again, and they fell on Kelly. Her hands and arms were still covered in blood, smudges of it on her face and dark stains on the bottom of her shirt and where she'd tried to wipe her hands on her jeans.

Abby frowned, she knew what that blood reminded her of, she could only imagine what it was doing to Kelly, or would do, if she ever came out of her worry induced coma.

After a moment of careful consideration, Abby stood and caught Kelly's hand mid-pace.

"C'mon Kid, lets get you cleaned up," she said leading her toward the woman's bathroom on the other side of the hall. Wordlessly, Kelly followed.

"McGee?"

The agent looked up to see Abby poking her head through the bathroom doorway, "keep trying Ducky."

Abby waited until he pulled out his phone and then turned back toward Kelly, guiding the girl toward the sink. She let her lean against the wall beside the mirror while she got a few paper towels and wet them with warm water, setting about her work with concentrated silence, hoping the gentle act would help calm both their nerves.

"Abby?"

Abby's head whipped up, neither had spoken for nearly ten minutes and the sudden interruption of the silence had startled her.

Kelly's blue eyes swam with unshed tears and the unmasked worry Abby saw took her breath away. She reached out with one hand to touch her friend's shoulder, smiling reassuringly.

"He's going to be fine, Kelly."

She blinked once. "Are you just saying that?"

"Of course not," Abby said, dabbing the tears that began to trail slowly down her cheeks, "I wouldn't lie to you, kid."

Kelly considered this a moment.

"How do you know?" She asked in a small, almost vulnerable voice. Abby resisted the urge to crush her with a hug.

"Because," she said lightly, hoping it would ease Kelly's tension if she was more of her usual self, "it's not like this is the first time he's been in the hospital, I mean, half the nurses are on a first name basis with him and it's not just because he's dated them. He always comes out fine."

When she looked back up she realized her words may have had the opposite of their intended effect, since Kelly was looking even more distraught than before.

"What do you mean 'not the first time'?"

"Well, he's a federal agent Kell, it kind of comes with the job-" Abby began, trying to backtrack. But the damage was done.

"Abby, c'mon. What's happened to him? Has he been shot before?"

Abby shifted, suddenly uncomfortable, "Um, well…grazed is really more the word I would use and only once or twice."

Kelly narrowed her eyes, "and?"

Abby bit her lip and looked away. Kelly squeezed her hand, which she'd found clasped to hers.

"Okay...so he had the plague a while back too but, like I said, he came out fine, as long as he watches out around cold and flue season."

Kelly looked at her as if she'd grown a third eye, "the plague? Like the black plague from the middle ages?"

Abby shrugged in a way that almost seemed apologetic, "a lady had a grudge."

Kelly sighed dejectedly and muttered, "oh my god." As if it required too much energy to stand, she pulled herself up to sit on the edge of the sink and leaned back against the wall and the paper towel dispenser.

"Kell, it's fine, really. I mean, he doesn't even make it to the hospital that often, most of the time he just gets checked out by the paramedics and goes home," Abby said quickly.

"Oh, of course he does. God forbid he actually get some real medical attention."

Abby winced, she was usually much better at comforting people than this.

"Well if it's bad enough Gibbs makes him go, I mean, you shouldn't worry," Abby said, still trying to mend what she had unintentionally broken.

Suddenly Kelly's eyes widened and she sat forward again.

"Gibbs. My dad. Abby, has my dad had to be in the hospital before?"

Abby clamped her mouth shut, determined not to dig the hole she was in any deeper, "maybe we should go see if there's any word yet on Tony…"

"Abby. Abby please," Kelly jumped off the sink and stopped her friend before she got to the bathroom door, "please just tell me. I need to know."

Abby stopped, her hand hovering over the doorknob. Kelly searched out her green eyes and met them with her blue ones, beseeching Abby for an answer.

She sighed, running a hand down one pigtail and flipping the end away from her face, "Okay, again, he's a federal agent so you really shouldn't take it to heart. I mean, considering they go out everyday, day after day with guns and deal with criminals, most of whom have military training which means they keep knives and guns on them and can kick ass in hand-to-hand and 360 days a year they do just fine and make it home without a scratch, it really doesn't do any good to worry-"

"Abby."

She took another deep breath and averted her eyes. "Yes, okay? Yes, he's been in the hospital."

"What-"

"Gunshot wounds, being blown up, getting drugged, nearly drowning, you name it, Gibbs has been through it."

She brought her eyes back up to Kelly's, ready to deal with the hysterics she was sure were to come. But, much to her surprise, though Kelly looked pale again, her eyes were dry and her feet planted firmly on the ground as she stared at her, taking in the information Abby had just given.

"Have you ever been shot or blown up?" she asked quietly.

Abby shook her head, deciding against bringing up the 'near miss' with Ari. Something told her it wasn't what the girl needed to hear at the moment.

"Kelly, are you gonna be okay?"

She took a step forward and Kelly took a step back, her expression suddenly darkening. She pursed her lips, ran toward the bathroom door and flung it open.

---

Ziva and McGee both jumped to their feet when Gibbs emerged from the Emergency Trauma doors.

"Anything?" Ziva asked urgently.

Gibbs pursed his lips and shook his head, "still no word. They'll be done in a few minutes."

McGee sagged a little and he turned to stare at the doors that led to surgery, as if he could will a doctor to come out and give them an update. Preferably a good one.

"Where's Kelly?" Gibbs asked suddenly. Ziva glanced around, as if she hadn't noticed they were gone. McGee nodded toward the bathroom on the other side of the hall.

"Abby took her to get cleaned up some." He'd hardly finished talking when the woman in question suddenly burst through the door and started toward them.

Gibbs watched as his daughter marched straight up to McGee and Ziva and put her hands on her hips.

"Have you ever been shot?" She asked McGee. The agent looked a bit taken aback by her tone and only shook his head. Gibbs sent a look past his daughter at Abby who shrugged and mouthed _sorry_.

"How about you?" Kelly turned to Ziva who merely raised an eyebrow.

"I am Mossad," she said, as if that answered her question and anything else she might be wondering.

Kelly narrowed her eyes at them both and dropped her hands from her hips and shook her head.

"You know what? That's it," she raised her hands in surrender, "you are all quitting your jobs and becoming accountants. Nobody ever heard of somebody at H&R Block getting the plague."

Gibbs couldn't help it. He laughed.

Abby, McGee and Ziva all looked at him as if he'd gone mad and Kelly scowled.

"What exactly about you people landing yourselves in the hospital all the time is funny, Dad? I mean, do you guys get that statistically all of you, except McGee and maybe Abby, because I'm not sure you were entirely honest with me before," she glanced at the goth who drew back her shoulders at the implication, and then turned back to Gibbs, "statistically speaking you are all dead. That means someone aimed a gun at you, or put a bomb under your car or sent you _plague_ in the mail and the fact that you're still alive to talk about it is an anomaly that's unlikely to be repeated in another such encounter. It's not funny Dad-"

"Kelly, Kelly, shh," Gibbs took a step forward, and took hold of his daughter's arms, rubbing up and down soothingly, "I wasn't laughing at that."

"Well then what were you laughing at?" she snapped, still out of breath from her rant.

"I was laughing," Gibbs reached up to tuck some loose brown hair behind her ear, "because you sounded just like you're mother."

Her eyes moved up from their downcast position and locked with his, the tension slowly melting from her shoulders.

"Really?" She asked, almost smiling.

Gibbs nodded and he was rewarded with a full-fledged smile.

Kelly rolled her eyes, "okay fine. You guys can keep your jobs."

"Aw, go on you guys. Hug."

Gibbs looked behind Kelly to Abby, who had her hands pressed against her heart and giving them a nauseatingly tender look. He rolled his eyes, but before he had a chance to do anything a doctor called out to their small group.

"I'm looking for a Mr. Gibbs?"

He turned toward her, "yeah? That's me."

The doctor, a middle aged, middle height, middle weight woman with glasses, smiled at him and motioned him over. She did not seem phased when he, along with a four person entourage, approached her.

"I'm Dr. Michelle Hardaway. Mr. DiNozzo is awake and out of surgery. You asked to be notified when you could go in and see him."

Gibbs nodded and she looked past him at the rest, "I'd like to let the rest of you in but it's going to have to wait until tomorrow, however I do have a message for you," she looked at her clipboard and read off a pink sticky note, " 'this reminds me of a scene from 'Forest Gump', Ziva, please tell me you've seen it. McGee, take Abby home, make sure she gets at least some rest. Abby, go with McGee. See you all tomorrow'."

Dr. Hardaway finished reading and looked up and, though the note meant nothing to her, she was glad to see it had brightened the gloomy visages of at least three of the five faces staring at her.

Abby smiled, "you heard the man, McGee. Lets get out of here. Gibbs?"

"I'll call you and let you know," Gibbs promised, not needing her to finish.

With that, the three turned toward the exit, with Ziva trying to inconspicuously glean information from the other two about this 'Gump Forest' and where she could find it. Kelly clung to Gibbs' hand, practically breathless against a small ball of panic in her stomach. She wasn't blind or deaf. The note hadn't mentioned her. She knew it was childish, stupid even, but she was afraid Tony had forgotten her.

"And, you wouldn't happen to be Kelly, would you?" The doctor asked slowly, meeting the girl's worried eyes.

Kelly almost sagged with relief, "yeah. That's me."

Doctor Hardaway nodded, "he's asking for you, so we decided to bend the rules a little. You both can come with me."

Gibbs squeezed her hand and Kelly allowed him to drag her along at his usual brisk pace as they both followed the doctor toward the elevator.

_TBC  
_


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: ** Wow, thanks so much **again **for the awesome reviews everybody! Glad you're as stoked as I am about this fic. ::_sigh_:: I should really let these poor people sleep some, but there's still so much work to do! They'll just have to get themselves some coffee and suck it up. Enjoy! -pj

---

"I've got to go call Abby and make sure Garber's team is taking care of the scene. DiNozzo, I don't want to hear that you've tried to sign yourself out again, understood?"

Kelly turned and stood away from the wall at the sound of her father's voice. The doctor had asked her to stay outside while she spoke to both Tony and Gibbs about his condition. It had been almost five minutes and she was going insane waiting.

Seconds after a half-hearted, 'yes boss' had come from the room, both Gibbs and the doctor appeared. Dr. Hardaway smiled at her and then turned in the other direction while Gibbs approached her, the amusement in his eyes, no doubt caused by something Tony had done, caused her to relax a little bit more.

"Hey, you can go in now," Gibbs said, placing a quick kiss on her forehead because she was not nearly as good at hiding her worry as she thought, "I'll be out in the waiting room, okay?"

Kelly nodded and started toward the door, but stopped when her hand hit the doorknob. She bit her lip, aware that Gibbs was still watching her.

He lifted his chin, silently urging her inside. With a small, brave smile, she turned the knob and pushed her way inside.

Tony was sitting up, staring at the bed controls with a perplexed frown when he noticed her enter.

"Hey, you okay?" Tony said, trying to sit up further in the already upright bed and winced involuntarily when he moved his injured arm.

"God Tony, sit back!" Kelly exclaimed, crossing the room in short strides and pushing him back carefully against the bed.

Tony sighed a little and allowed her to fuss over his blankets for a moment before pinning her with a questioning look.

"You didn't answer my question."

Kelly shook her head and wiped at her eyes, which were watering involuntarily, "of course I'm okay. I'm not the one with the bullet hole in my shoulder."

"Yeah well," he started to shrug and then decided against it, "scars are sexy," he said, smirking at her.

Kelly wasn't amused, "not when they're on _my _boyfriend they're not," she said softly, picking at his bed sheet and avoiding his eyes.

Tony tilted his head reaching for her hand with his uninjured one, "aw c'mon babe, I've been hurt worse at a paintball tournament."

"Don't joke about this, okay Tony?" Kelly suddenly pulled back from his hand and shook her head, sounding as if she was no longer even bothering to fight the tears, "just don't joke."

"Okay, okay, Kelly," Tony sobered instantly, his voice getting low and quiet, wishing to calm her.

Kelly didn't respond but remained just withing arms reach, staring blankly at the floor. She bit her lip in a vain attempt to keep her chin from trembling, not wanting him to see her cry.

"Hey," he reached up to cup her face and then turned her face toward him, "I'm okay. I'm gonna be fine."

He rubbed his thumb along her cheek, drying the tears that were still rolling from her eyes. She nodded, but he could tell she wasn't comforted.

"Remember before? When we went for coffee? What I said to you?" she asked, quietly.

He tried not to stiffen at the mention of their argument but his muscles grew tense anyway, "yeah."

She sighed, fidgeting with a ring on her finger as she continued, "well I've been thinking about what I said…I think…I think I wasn't entirely honest with you before...well, after. I mean."

"Okay," he said, tentatively, waiting for the other shoe to drop, though he honestly didn't remember hearing the first.

"I think I…at least, maybe, a very small part of me…did actually blame you...a little bit. For not being there to protect me, I mean."

With a deep breath Tony drew back from her and Kelly could almost feel his guard going up, she continued quickly.

"But I don't anymore. I can't. Because…the same small part of me…maybe a little bigger than 'small'…now blames me, for not being able to protect you," her eyes fell to his injured arm and Tony felt his heart twist at the guilt that was in them.

"Kelly," the tenderness in his voice made her look up and she was captured by the intensity in his brown eyes, "I would take a thousand bullets straight to the heart if it meant keeping you safe."

Her chin began to tremble uncontrollably and she faught not to sob audibly.

"I know," she said in a shaky whisper, and nodded, "I know you would…that's kind of what I'm afraid of," she smiled and the fear in her eyes broke his heart.

"Aw Kell," he reached out to pull her close and wrapped his good arm around her as she sobbed onto his bare chest, "shh, it's alright, I'm here. I'm okay," he cupped the back of her head as he soothed, but was afraid the words would fall on deaf ears.

---

"Take this next right," Abby pointed at the flashing yellow light up ahead.

It was a little past three am and the usually busy DC streets were all but deserted, leaving McGee to take some liberties with the traffic laws, time was of the essence after all. After leaving the hospital Abby had insisted on going to Gibbs house to collect their computers and the information to continue their work, promising to get the ordered 'rest' when they got where they were going.

"And where is it exactly that we're going again, Abby?" Tim asked patiently, foregoing the blinker as he turned onto a city street that quickly faded into a country road.

"The safe house," Abby told him nonchalantly, glaring down at her cell phone as she waited for Gibbs' call.

McGee furrowed his brow in confusion, "I thought we just left the Safe House." He said, reffering to Gibbs home, which had been crawling with NCISagents and MPs when they got there. McGee was glad he and Ziva had stayed behind to stash away the computers and papers before giving chase to Tony's ambulance.

Abby rolled her eyes and give him a look, "Rule Thirty-Two, Tim?"

Tim squinted his eyes in concentration, "Never…no. Always...have a back-up plan?"

"Exactamundo McG," Abby said, pointing her finger at him in the shape of a gun and 'firing', "Do you really think a guy like Gibbs, a Marine with black ops training, three vengeful ex-wives and a daughter with ties to the CIA doesn't have someplace he can go when all else fails?" She asked, giving him an skeptical look.

"Well…yeah but...when Mike Franks needed protection he went to Gibbs place, didn't he?" McGee continued, though he sounded less sure of himself.

Abby waved away his argument, the silver spikes on her bracelets catching the moonlight briefly, "That was Mike, he can take care of himself. Besides, it wasn't just him, Tony was there too plus like a half dozen uniforms. It's not a safe house if everybody knows about it."

"So how do _you _know about it?" McGee asked, taking a left on an unmarked road that he would have missed if not for Abby's indication.

She gave him another one of her knowing looks, "Gibbs and I don't have secrets, McGee."

Tim considered this and then nodded, deciding that was probably true. If Gibbs was going to tell anyone about his super-secret safe house, it would be Abby.

He winced when another gaping hole in the gravel 'drive' swallowed up his front tire and small rocks worked at chipping away the paint on his Mercedes.

"How much further, Abbs?"

Abby responded by reaching for the seat controls and tilting her chair into a horizontal position, "oh, it's going to be a while, Timmy."

---

Kelly looked up when the door opened at close to four o'clock in the morning and was surprised to see Ducky appear in the doorway.

She smiled at him, aware that he'd been in Norfolk with another team from NCIS when he recieved word on Tony. He'd called about an hour ago after receiving McGee's multiple messages and Gibbs had been calling him regularly with updates on Tony's condition on the drive back to DC.

"Hey Duck," she said, quietly, sitting back in her chair and stretching. Gibbs sat in a slightly more comfortable chair against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest and legs crossed at the ankles. His chin was dropped to his chest in sleep, having lost the long battle against sleep, albeit breifly, while he read Garber's teams' preliminary report.

"How'd you get up here?" She gave him a half suspicious, half impressed look, "visiting hours don't apply to MEs?"

"Not to ones who are pinochle partners with the Dean of the Hospital," Ducky explained equally quietly, not wanting to wake either Gibbs or Tony, "how is he?"

Kelly shrugged and glanced at Tony, amazed, not for the first time, at how young he looked in sleep, "you could probably say better than I, Ducky."

She reached for the x-rays in a manila folder on the table beside the bed and handed them to him. "The doctor said he'd be fine," she added as he pulled the films out and held them up to the light.

"A straight through and through, some muscle damage, but nothing too extensive. I concur," Ducky slipped the films back into the folder, "He'll need some physical therapy of course-"

"He'll love that," Kelly rolled her eyes sarcastically.

Ducky smiled, "indeed. But at any rate, a few weeks in a sling and he should be back to one-hundred percent."

Kelly nodded and felt a knot of tension in her stomach start to dissipate. If Ducky said so, it had to be true.

Ducky caught the reaction with his perceptive gray eyes but quickly returned them to Tony, not wanting to make the girl self-conscious.

"Andy you?" he asked carefully, "are you going to be alright as well?"

Kelly sighed, she should have expected the question. What Ducky lacked in an appreciation for brevity he made up for with an uncanny ability to read people. Especially people with the surname 'Gibbs'.

She was prepared to feed him the same bull 'I'm fine' line she'd been giving Abby and Tony and her father for hours. But there is something about the air at 4am, something in the stillness of not truely night but not yet day, that makes one want to tell nothing but the truth. Instead she reached up to rub her eyes and shrugged.

"I don't know Duck," she swallowed and returned her too-warm hand to Tony's, clutching it tightly. Even in sleep he squeezed back, "that bullet was meant for me, you know?"

Ducky looked taken aback, "surely there's no way to know that for certain?"

Kelly shook her head, "my house, my room. _I'm _the one who's working on finding the mole for the CIA. _I'm_ the one he wants dead."

Ducky's face grew troubled and he took off his glasses briefly to clean them on his shirt, "Do you think the CIA…"

"No. It wouldn't do them any good to kill me. Not now," she said, sounding as if she'd already given the subject a great deal of thought, "I'm working with them."

"They've done it before," Ducky pointed out, not that Kelly needed to be reminded of the events that led up to her first meeting with NCIS.

"I think that it was more of a break down in communication than anything before. There's a lot of people who don't like me at the Agency. Don't like that I can do their jobs twice as well as they can in half the time with nothing more than a computer and a chalkboard," she shrugged, glancing quickly at Ducky and then looking away again, "but the important people up top know they need me. Half their computer and satellite software run on my calculations, not to mention threat assessments and code analysis," she ended with another shrug, "they need me alive. Plain and simple."

Ducky was left somewhat astounded at the casual way with which she referred to her gift. As if there was nothing to be done, and it was an everyday occurrence for a girl of her age to have the weight of an entire government agency on her shoulders.

Kelly's soft, discouraged sigh drew him back to reality and he was surprised at the anguish displayed on her delicate features. She noticed his stare and gave him a smile that anyone could've seen was forced.

"At least some good came out of this. I now know for sure that the mole is working at the CIA. No one else knows I'm helping them with this."

Ducky did not buy her false silver lining , "Kelly?"

She shook her head, knowing what he was asking without needing him to voice it, "it's just that," she bit her lip, "half an inch to the right or…half a second later and he would be dead right now, Duck. Killed with a bullet that was meant for me."

"Oh Kelly," Ducky was at her side in seconds, moving surprisingly fast for a man of his age. After a moment she pulled back, smiling. Embarrassed.

"Sorry, I'm just…tired I guess."

"Quite alright, my dear," Ducky assured her, patting her arm, "you should follow your father's example and get some rest."

They both grinned when Gibbs shifted in the chair and he began to snore.

"No, I think I'm just gonna go get some coffee from the machine, you want any?"

Ducky shook his head and turned back to Tony. With his back to the door he didn't see her grab her coat and glance at her father as she slipped from the room.

---

Kelly wasn't sure what had brought her here. She just knew when she'd hugged Ducky she'd felt the raw grief and exhaustion of the past three months coupled with that of the last three days pressing against the reserves of strength she had left and knew it wouldn't be long before they broke. And if she was going to break, in the middle of a hospital room surrounded by the three most (over) protective men in her life was not where she wanted to do it.

It occurred to her that someone with a possible hit out on them should not be standing around out in the open, but she was having a hard time caring at that moment. The rain seemed appropriate it began to fall down from the dark sky at the same moment she dropped to her knees in the middle of the cemetery.

"Mom," she whispered, reaching out to trace the engraved letters of her mother's name on the tombstone in front of her, water rolling across the smooth surface made her fingers slip. She dropped her head, a few tears to rolled down her cheeks and mixed with the rain. She decided if she could not distinguish one from the other then neither existed.

"How did you do it mom?" She whispered brokenly, her voice hardly carrying above the sound of water hitting leaves. She looked up again at the name as if she expected it to answer back.

"How did you let him walk out that door everyday, knowing he might never come back?" she shook her head, feeling the first sobs begin to rob her of breath and wishing there was something there to hold on to, to keep her from falling. She fisted her hands in the grass on either side of her, the thin green blades sticking out between her fingers, in hopes it would help ground her to the earth as it spun.

"How did you survive it mom? I don't know how."

She stared for a few moments and the rain picked up along with a slight breeze. When the engraved name continued to remain stubborn and silent she crumpled back against the headstone, hugging her knees to her chest, well aware she was getting mud on her jeans and soaked to the skin and not able to muster the strength to care.

"I don't know how. Tony and Dad…they have dangerous jobs, Mom. I can't ask them to stop. I wouldn't...but I," she hated the helplessness that had gripped her chest and the cold that seemed to seep into her through to the bone. She couldn't even bring herself to blame the rain.

"How did you do it, Mom?"

---

Gibbs stirred and then tensed and Ducky jumped back, having experienced a 'surprised awake' Jethro Gibbs before and still had the scars to prove it.

"Ducky?" Gibbs frowned, rubbing his face. He sat up more in his seat and the ME stood from being bent over his friend.

"Sorry to wake you Jethro but-"

"What is it Duck? Tony?" He stood and looked over, but his senior Agent was still in a morphine induced sleep.

"No, Anthony is fine," Ducky corrected him quickly and Gibbs turned to him, noting the way the usually unshakable ME seemed troubled, fidgeting slightly with his suspenders and bowtie, "it is Kelly whom I am concerned about at present."

Gibbs glanced around the room but his daughter was nowhere to be seen, "where is she?"

"That's precisely the problem Jethro. I don't _know_. She left to get coffee and hasn't returned. That was nearly half an hour ago. I thought perhaps she just needed some time on her own but went to look for her to be sure. Jethro, her jacket is gone, it could be nothing but I thought I should-"

"Thanks Duck," Gibbs patted his friend on the shoulder as he passed, picking up his keys and cell phone from the table and leaving all in one motion.

---

"How did you do it mom?" The voice that went with the words did not sound like his daughter's. It was tortured and small, pleading and heart-breakingly hopeful.

She was slumped against the headstone, sobbing openly with her palm pressed against the carved name of her mother. Gibbs felt his stomach drop and his heart twist at the expression of anguish on her face. Chin bent to her chest, cheek pressed to the cool stone, eyes shut with concentration, as if she only listened hard enough she would get an answer.

"One day at a time," he said, just loud enough to be heard over the rain.

Kelly jumped and whipped around to find her father kneeling in the grass slightly behind and to the right of her. She knew she should have been surprised he'd found her but, somehow, she wasn't.

"What?"

Gibbs wasn't looking at her, but had found her hand with his and squeezed, "that's what she used to say. She'd just take it one day at a time," he glanced at Kelly, "she used to tell you too."

Kelly stared at her father and shook her head minutely, blinking against the rain that kept running into her eyes.

"I-I don't remember."

Gibbs sighed, settling back and pulling Kelly into his side. They both stared at the headstone as he spoke.

"She used to tell you, 'one day at a time. In the morning we pray Daddy will stay safe. At night we thank God for bringing him home. That's all we can do. The next day, we do it again. One day at a time.'" He rocked gently, rubbing a soothing hand up and down her arm and Kelly remained motionless and silent for several minutes.

"Smart woman, my mom," she said, her voice beginning to sound like her own again.

Gibbs nodded and smiled, turning to press his lips to her hair.

"Very smart woman."

_TBC  
_


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **Sorry sorry for the delay. my must took a vacation without giving me any advance warning ;P Don't worry. She sent me a postcard so I could write this chap. Oh, and I'm aware most hospital rooms have their own bathrooms...for some reason, Tony doesn't. Enjoy. -pj

---

It was nearly quarter to six when they left the cemetery, seven by the time they got back to the hospital. Gibbs had suggested they stop for breakfast and, though Kelly had given him a strange look when he bought six breakfast burritos, he didn't explain.

It wasn't until they got back to Tony's room that Kelly understood. She smiled from her spot in the doorway when she spotted the entire team seated around Tony's hospital room, they'd arrived at the tick of seven, when visiting hours began.

"The gang's all here," she said, pulling burritos from the brown bag and passing them around.

Gibbs moved to settle beside Abby, who sat next to McGee, on the couch. Ziva was in a chair beside them and Ducky sat in one next to the bed.

Tony shrugged with his good shoulder, "they worry."

"Yeah, with good reason," Kelly crossed her arms and approached the bed, "from what I hear you spend an inordinate amount of time in hospitals."

"Comes with the job," Tony nodded.

"So they keep telling me," she dropped her eyes to fiddle with his sheet and Tony tilted his head to one side, sensing the seriousness beneath her teasing.

He asked somewhat hesitantly, "that okay?"

Kelly froze, and glanced at her father, "getting there."

Gibbs smiled slightly and then rolled his eyes at the love struck look on her face when she turned back to Tony. His reached for his jacket pocket as his phone began to sing.

"Yeah, Gibbs," he paused, listening to the voice on the other end, "ok, thanks Garber. I'll be there in ten."

He hung up and met the curious glances of his team, "Ziva, with me."

He stood and reached for his coat. Ziva nodded, finishing the remnants of her burrito and tossing the unfinished coffee in the trash.

"Boss?" Tony questioned, his eyes following Gibbs as he approached.

"Garber's team has a lead on the shooting. I'm going to get read in and Ziva's going to accompany the team questioning neighbors," he raised his eyebrows and dipped his chin, "you stay. Do what they tell you to so you can get back to work. I don't have time to break in a new agent."

Tony's mouth quirked slightly and he nodded. Gibbs looked at Kelly briefly and she nodded.

"I'll stay with him."

"McGee," the youngest agent looked up at the sound of his name being called, but Gibbs' eyes never left his daughter's, "you stick with her. Don't let her out of your sight."

Tim nodded and Kelly took a small step forward, looking affronted.

"But Dad-" she started.

"No buts, Kelly. You stay with McGee, you don't leave this room." His tone left no room for argument and Kelly was forced to settle for a disgruntled glare in protest. Gibbs glanced at Ducky and the elderly doctor nodded.

"I too shall stay."

"Me too." Abby chimed in.

Gibbs nodded, understanding his team's need to stay close to one another in times of crisis.

"Okay. I'll be back with an update," he said to no one specific and moved toward the door, Ziva right behind him.

Dr. Hardaway returned to check on Tony's progress a moment later and Ducky pulled her aside to talk about the patient's recovery, which was going by-the-book perfectly. Kelly slid up onto the bed beside Tony, while Abby and McGee retreated back to the couch.

"He's insufferable," Kelly grumbled, frowning.

Tony smiled, his healthy arm wrapped around her slight shoulders as she bowed into his side, the other lay across his chest, his hand twirling playfully with her fingers.

"Wouldn't be Gibbs if he wasn't."

Kelly smirked and the two fell silent, allowing Dr. Hardaway to finish her checks and leave. The silence didn't stay long though, as Abby and McGee's quiet conversation turned into a less quiet argument.

"Abby, you can't start from the end."

"But, if I don't know how it ends how will I know if I'll like the book?!"

"Abby," Tim said, exasperated, "did you do this with my book?"

"Well I-"

"Stop!"

Everyone's head swiveled in the direction of the outburst, freezing as commanded. Kelly had suddenly jumped to her feet, had her hands up in a 'I've-been-inspired-so don't move' position.

"Say that again," she said, looking at McGee.

"Well, I uh," McGee glanced at Abby, "I was just saying Abby shouldn't start from the end of a book. She said she reads the last page first and-"

"Start from the end," Kelly muttered to herself and stared off into space for a second before turning on her heel and practically running toward the door. However, she was stopped before she even made it into the hallway by McGee wedging himself between the frame.

"Hey!"

"Where are you going?"

"I need to go get something to write with, McGee."

"I really don't think that's a good idea, your dad was pretty adamant about-"

"My _Dad_ is overprotective and a control freak." Kelly crossed her arms, doing her best to be intimidating, sure it would work on McGee. But the man had more spine than she initially gave him credit for and he stood his ground, refusing to move.

"Um…I have a notebook," Abby called out hesitantly from the other side of the room, effectively ending the stand off.

Kelly rolled her eyes and then her face softened to allow a small smile, "I see why Dad keeps you around, McGee."

Then she turned on her heel and went to Abby, retrieving the proffered notebook and pencil.

---

Gibbs sipped his coffee to calm his nerves, which were frayed and exhausted to say the least. He blinked a few times to keep his eyes focused on the crime scene photos displayed on the plasma.

"Our shooter didn't police his brass," Garber said, pretending not to notice the haggard condition of his colleague. He'd known Jethro Gibbs long enough to know when to keep his mouth shut and when to speak his mind. This was not one of those times. He lifted his hand to scroll through to photos of the ammo casings they'd found, "they rolled down the roof into the gutter."

"Looks like 7mm Remington Magnum," Gibbs commented, taking another sip.

Garber, a tall burly agent comparable to Gibbs in age but with thin dark hair, barely spared a glance. hew as used to Gibbs vast and, sometimes, unexpected knowledge. Especially when it came to weapons.

"That's right," he nodded, turning back to the plasma, scrolling through a few more photos of the rooftop and surrounding area, "it's unusual for a sniper not to police his brass so we think he probably left in a bit of a hurry."

"Well yeah," Gibbs said with a wry smile, "he probably knew he'd have three SIGs in his face in a matter of seconds after he fired his shot."

Garber dropped the remote onto Gibbs' desk and perched on the edge with his arms crossed over his chest and his feet crossed at the ankles, "I thought the same. Probably knew his target. A sniper rifle is not the typical thrill-kill weapon of choice."

Gibbs dropped his eyes, recalling the previous evening spent pouring over Kelly's data.

_"Four were shot, execution style. Near DC."_

_"Work for hire hit men?"_

_"How am I supposed to sleep when you or Jenny could be next?" _

"This was no random hit," Gibbs said almost to himself, raising his eyes back to the plasma.

Garber furrowed his brow at the other agent and reached up surreptitiously to loosen his already slack tie.

"Anything you want to tell me, Gibbs?"

Gibbs licked his lips and then turned to face the other man.

"Now why would you say that, Mark?" He asked, his face revealing nothing.

Garber smiled in return and rolled his eyes half-heartedly, "oh come on, I've known you long enough to know when you're gut is telling you something."

Gibbs smiled cryptically and pulled out his phone, "uh-huh."

Mark shook his head and chuckled as Gibbs hit the speed dial without looking away from him. Knowing he'd gotten all he would get from the former Marine, he pushed away from the desk and moved toward his own cubicle to follow up on a few more leads.

"You know where to find me when you're ready to read me in, Gibbs," he muttered as he passed.

Gibbs just smiled and watched him go, "Ziva, sitrep."

---

Kelly blinked hard a few times and then rubbed her eyes, she felt as if she'd been staring at lined paper for days. She yawned a little and picked up the coffee cup beside her and pouted out her bottom lip slightly when she found it empty.

She had moved from the chair beside the bed to sit on the floor beside the wall about an hour ago and was pretty sure she'd now lost all circulation in her lower extremities. Across the room she could see Tony had fallen asleep in the middle of 'An Affair to Remember' on television. Ducky had gone to pick up lunch for them and Abby and McGee were sharing a laptop on the worn couch beneath the window, decrypting the last of the data. She was almost finished with her algorithm, but the rest of the information they would provide would help her refine it even more.

Finally, she was reminded of the original reason she'd been brought out of her thoughts and got to her feet, stretching and then turning toward the door.

"Kelly, where are you going now?"

The girl turned with an amused smile, "to the bathroom, Tim. That okay with you?" Then she watched in stunned silence as McGee stood and made his way over to the door, "And where are _you_ going?"

"With you," McGee said calmly, motioning for her to leave first.

Kelly stared at him, "you're not coming to the bathroom with me, McGee."

"Yes, I am."

"No. You're not. I'm a big girl Tim I can go to the bathroom all by myself," she protested, but seeing that McGee showed no signs of bending to her will she frowned deeper, no longer amused, "McGee this is ridiculous I-"

"Just let her go, Probie," Tony said groggily, not opening his eyes.

"But Tony-"

Kelly smiled triumphantly and turned on her heel, double-timing it to the restroom across the hall.

McGee looked to be a cross between appalled and angry, "Tony, Boss said-"

"McGee," Tony said with forced patience, finally opening his eyes to give the other agent a stern look, "you tell her she can go, wait a few seconds, then go in, make a quick check to be sure there's no threat and wait outside the door. She never knows you're there and you've done your job. Everybody's happy."

"I can't go in there if she's in there," McGee said, sounding horrified at the very idea.

Tony closed his eyes and dropped his head again, "either that or you gamble on the chance that the bathroom is really as safe as you think it is."

McGee considered this a moment and then slumped his shoulders, conceding to Tony's plan.

"Okay, but if she finds out I went in there, I'm dead."

"Trust me Probie, you're probably dead either way."

---

Kelly left the bathroom stall and glanced around, her ears attuned to any noise and her eyes watching for any movement. After a few minutes she was satisfied she was alone and made her way to the sink, though she could have sworn there was someone else in the bathroom with her a moment ago.

As she was washing her hands she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket but had to wait until she'd dried them to fish it out.

She frowned down at the object. It was picture mail she'd been sent, a candid shot of Tony and he looked to be at a crime scene, judging by his backwards NCIS hat. There was no message with the photo, and the number it had been sent from was blocked.

An uncomfortable twinge in her stomach made her bite her lip as she stared at the photo, but she shook it off, intending to say something to McGee when she got back to the room. Before she could take two steps, her phone vibrated again. Another picture message, this one of her father taking out the trash at their home. Though the number was still blocked, there was a message with the second picture and the uncomfortable twinge was replaced with full blown nausea and her stomach dropped to her shoes.

_What would you be willing to do to keep them safe?_

She swallowed hard but found her mouth to be too dry to help. With shaking hands, she slid her keyboard out to type a response but before she could even begin a cheerful tune announced the arrival of an incoming call.

The number was blocked.

"Who is this?" Kelly demanded, as soon as she'd opened the line.

"What would you do?" a low, unfamiliar male voice asked.

Kelly ignored the question, "what do you want?"

She bit her lip as she waited for an answer, shifting from one foot to the other, unsure of whether or not she wanted to leave and find McGee or Tony just yet. Her stomach, her gut her father would say, was telling her not to. That the best thing for everyone was for her to stay right where she was until she knew what was going on.

"I want you to answer my question."

Kelly remained silent, knowing full well which question the voice was referring to.

There was some background noise coming from the other end of the line, and Kelly guessed whoever she was on the phone with was sitting in a crowded room of some sort.

"My my, your father certainly does drink a lot of coffee, doesn't he? Not healthy in a man his age, you know."

Kelly wasn't looking at her reflection, but if she had been she would have seen herself go white.

"You can see my father?" She asked quietly, not really intending to say it out loud.

"See him, smell him…could kill him if I wanted. Right now. A well timed bump in a busy coffee shop, no one would have any idea what had happened," the man's voice had a slight lilt that suggested he was European, probably British, but Kelly didn't register it.

"What do you want from me?" she asked, her voice trembling, trying hard not to imagine her father as a corpse at a crime scene. She leaned against the sink and closed her eyes, feeling light headed.

_Anything. I would do anything to keep them safe._

"Nothing too extraordinary, i assure you. Merely excuse yourself from Mr. DiNozzo's hospitol room, I have it on good authority that he will be right as rain in a few days," he sounded almost friendly as he rattled off instructions for her to meet two men in a black car out in front of the hospital.

"Are you crazy? Somebody tried to shoot me last night and my Dad practically has me under house arrest. How do you expect me to get out of here?"

The voice tsked her pessimism, "you're a smart girl Kelly. You'll figure something out." With that, the line when dead.

Kelly hung up, pushed her phone back into her pocket, and cursed.

_TBC  
_


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Here's the next chap, it's getting a little loco around these parts. ::squints out at cyber space:: Maybe you'll want to review...just so I know you're alive? I get very worried about my readers between updates :P** diana teo** -_ are you sure? ::grins maniacally::_ Enjoy.-pj

---

Kelly was only in stunned silence for a moment. Long enough for the 'why is this happening, I can't _believe _this is happening and damn if I don't have the worst luck on the planet' thoughts to run their course. Then, she was immediately launched into her analytical, problem solving mode.

_Objective: Get to the first floor, meet the town car out in front of the hospital. Hope they just want to ask for directions. _

_Obstacle: McGee will sooner chop off his own foot than let me out of his sight. Oh, and I'm in a bathroom. _

She bit her lip and began surveying the room, wondering if there was anything nearby she could use.

"Kelly? Everything alright in there?"

She practically jumped out of her skin at the sound of McGee's voice coming through the door and pressed a hand over her heart, forcing breath into her chest.

"Yeah McGee," she realized she sounded a little snappy and then, a little softer, added, "I'll be out in a sec."

Her eyes flicked up to the ceiling and landed on the sprinkler. She shook her head.

_Don't have a lighter. Plus that would wouldn't be so great for the poor people in the ICU._

Then her eyes went to the mirrors.

_I could cut my hand on the glass. McGee would take me to the ER and then I could sneak out…_

She winced and rubbed her hand self-consciously.

_That'll be on the 'last resort' list._

She found herself taking another deep breath, each one harder draw in than the last. She closed her eyes.

_Calm down. Breathe deep. It's just another mission. Just another objective…except this time the lives of two people you love are on the line._

She opened her eyes again and this time they landed on her reflection.

_I can't do this._

---

After Kelly and McGee left, Ducky returned with the food, but Abby seemed more interested in Tony than she was in eating. Tony steadfastly ignored her stares by poking at his Jell-O and trying to decide if the unidentifiable chunks floating in the middle were edible.

Finally, unable to put up with his inattention any longer, Abby pushed aside her laptop and approached the bed with that knowing smirk that always made Tony nervous.

"What?" He asked, looking at her warily.

"Oh nothing, just wondering," she shrugged, and pretended to be non-interested as she turned over his bed controls in her hands a few times, but the eager glint in her eyes told another story.

"Yeah?" He responded, and glanced at Ducky, but the older man merely hid further behind his book, pretending not to notice Tony's 'help me' stare.

"Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I was just wondering if there was anything you wanted to tell me?" she looked up with a sweet smile and raised eyebrows and, at Tony's confused look, clarified, "about you and our favorite Gibblet, I mean?"

Tony's smile was half-frown and he tilted his head. He wasn't sure he knew what she was talking about, and was even less sure he wanted to.

Abby rolled her eyes and exasperatedly dropped her innocent act, "Don't look at me that way Tony! You know what I mean, a near death experience has a way of changing how a person sees things."

Tony scoffed.

"C'mon Abby. I've been on car rides with Ziva that were closer to being a near-death experience than this GSW."

"Not to people like me or Kelly," she flung her hands in the air as if she couldn't believe he was being so thick-skulled, "you were shot! In her _bedroom_. She held you in her arms while your _life force_ pooled around you. It was so Romeo and Juliet I had a Freshman Year Shakespeare flashback."

Tony raised an eyebrow, "correct me if I'm wrong, but that didn't end so well for the lovebirds."

"Not the point, Tony," Abby informed him, now pacing the length of the bed, "the point is that it's changed the way she sees things. The way she sees you and her. Now what I want to know is: what about you?"

The half amused grin finally dropped off Tony's face and he seemed to consider his friend's logic for a moment. But before he had a chance to respond, her green eyes moved away from him and to the door.

"Kelly, oh my God!" she rushed across the room. Tony leaned up a little in the bed, ignoring the pain that throbbed through his shoulder at the movement, and saw Kelly and McGee entering the room, the girls' arm flung over McGee's shoulders and he seemed to be supporting most of her weight.

"What did you do, McGee?" he barked, already trying to get out of the bed.

"For goodness sake, be still Anthony. Let me handle it." Ducky chided, while rising from his chair and proffering it to McGee, who gently placed Kelly down inside it. The girl groaned slightly and put her head between her knees.

"I didn't do anything Tony, she came out of the bathroom and just collapsed." McGee defended hotly, sparing a quick glance at his partner. Tony gave him a cool glare that was only tempered by the concern in it for Kelly.

"Yeah right McScrewup."

"Tony," came Kelly's muffled call, "Tim didn't do anything."

"McGee did you check for gas canisters? Somebody could've set up a time release-"

"McGee was in the bathroom?" Kelly suddenly sat up and then promptly swayed badly in her chair, "whoa. Somebody make the world stop, I wanna get off," she grumbled, as three pairs of hands pushed her head back down.

"I had to Kelly, it's my job."

Ducky, who was squatting in front of his impromptu patient, exchanged a quick glance with Abby, both their eyes conveying worry enough for four people. He quickly surveyed the room and his eyes landed on the untouched breakfast burrito beside Tony's bed.

He frowned, "Kelly, when was the last time you ate?"

If anyone had been able to see her face, they would have caught Kelly's wince.

"Um…yesterday? Maybe?" was the muffled reply.

Abby gasped, McGee frowned and Ducky clucked his tongue.

"Good lord, child. Between not eating and the stress of the past few days, it's a wonder you're still able to walk."

"Why didn't anybody notice?" Abby asked no one in particular, but they all glanced at one another wishing to find an answer.

"I'm not a baby, you guys," Kelly protested weakly, "and I'm not hungry. I just need some rest."

Ducky patted her knee and stood, somewhat slowly and painfully, and turned toward the door.

"I'll see what I can do."

---

Ziva climbed into the blue Charger beside her boss and they were off and moving again before she even had her door shut.

"Thanks for the lift. I think," she said, buckling her seat belt securely.

Gibbs pretended not to hear her, "what'd you find out."

Ziva didn't bother glancing at her notes, "most of your neighbors were asleep at the time of the incident last night. A few thought they heard a loud 'crashing noise' around two am, which is consistent with the time line, and one a Mr. Edwin Barry, said he saw a 'shadowy figure walk across the front lawn to get into a dark colored SUV' but he could not provide much of a description."

"Of the car or the figure?"

"Either."

Gibbs pursed his lips and took the next turn too sharply.

Ziva didn't comment, "How's Tony?"

"Last I heard, he was fine."

She nodded and held back a wince as they crossed three lanes of traffic without so much as an indicator light, "what did Garber tell you?"

"Not much," he shook his head, "sniper didn't police his brass, was in a hurry to get out of there."

"I would be too if I had just shot into your house."

Gibbs gave her a look to which Ziva responded with a shrug.

"Is there something else?" She asked a moment later, sensing that he was holding something back.

He sighed, "7mm Remington Magnum brass was found at the scene."

Ziva's eyes narrowed in concentration, "sounds familiar."

He nodded and took a deep breath, "Kelly wasn't the target."

Gibbs turned to meet Ziva's inquisitive gaze.

"I was."

---

"It's fine, Cora," Ducky smiled briefly at the dark haired nurse in salmon scrubs who was helping him get Kelly into the bed, "I'm afraid the girl just doesn't know when to slow down. Takes after her father in that respect."

Kelly frowned as she made herself comfortable, "but I _need_ my notebook Ducky,"

"What you _need_ is rest."

Kelly pursed her lips and crossed her arms in something suspiciously reminiscent of pouting and Cora smiled indulgently.

"It's no problem at all, Dr. Mallard, we have several open beds on this floor," she winked once at Kelly, who didn't return her effervescence, and left.

Kelly immediately looked to McGee, who stood watch at the end of the bed.

"Tim, you've got to go tell Abby and Tony I'll be fine, please?"

McGee shook his head, "you know what your father said, Kelly."

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, "yes, I know what my father said, but Ducky's here, ok? And hospital security is, literally, right outside the door, I'll be fine while you run down the hall for three seconds. I mean, you know how Tony gets when he's worried," she raised her eyebrows, "'impossible' is an understatement."

McGee sighed and thought a moment, "you promise you won't move?"

Kelly raised her right hand, "scouts honor."

He hesitated a moment more and studied her suspiciously. Finally he sighed and, with a short nod, "I'll be right back."

Kelly smiled, "I'll be here."

A few seconds after McGee left the room Kelly winced.

"You alright?"

"I don't know Duck," she replied somewhat shakily and touched her temples, "my headache just went into overdrive," she glanced up at the concerned ME, "you think they have some of those painkillers you usually give me at the nurses station?"

Ducky nodded, "I'm sure they do. I'll be back momentarily. Then I can tell you about the ghost hunter in Mongolia that this reminds me of."

Kelly nodded as Ducky left.

_One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. Three Mississippi..._

She threw the thin blanket off herself, dropped her legs over the side of the bed and, just as quickly as she was silent, crossed the room.

McGee was out of sight, probably still being interrogated by Abby, and Ducky had his back to her and while he talked animatedly with the head nurse. She bit her bottom lip, feeling the brunt of the mounds of lies she'd told over the past half hour hitting her full force. She glanced back at the now rumpled and empty bed.

"Dad, please don't kill McGee."

Then she turned and disappeared into the stairwell.

---

"Okay, I'm back and you owe me one for-" McGee stopped dead.

Literally dead.

He was pretty sure his heart and breathing stopped.

Kelly was gone.

_Oh God._

A voice at the door made him turn so fast he almost got whiplash.

"Well they didn't have the kind that you're used to but I'm sure…Timothy?" Ducky stepped to one side and looked toward the bed, "where's Kelly?"

McGee's eyes widened to painful proportions, "you don't know? You were supposed to stay with her Ducky!"

Ducky frowned, "no need to get upset Tim, I'm sure she went to the restroom-"

"She just went to the bathroom," McGee protested and began frantically searching the room. In the closet, under the bed, behind the curtain.

She was nowhere.

McGee turned to Ducky, his face pale.

"I'm dead."

---

Kelly stepped outside the hospital doors and was immediately flanked on both sides by tall men in leather jackets and sunglasses.

Her heart rate was through the roof and her hands were balled into tight, nervous fists in her pockets as she was ushered toward the black town car that moved to park in front of the doors.

She'd never thought of herself as a nervous talker until that moment.

"Just tell me one thing," she said to the goon on her right, then turned to the one on her left, "do I have 'please kidnap me' tattooed on my forehead and somebody forgot to tell me?"

The stoic enforcers did not respond and the one on the left, that really looked the same as the one on the right, flung open the back door.

"In."

Kelly bit her lip nervously and hesitated, throwing one last, desperate lance over her shoulder at the security camera mounted on the wall of the hospital, before being shoved inside.

"Ouch," she grumbled, and pulled herself inside. The first goon climbed into the front seat while the other walked away to get into an identical car that had pulled up behind them, "ass."

"Now now, Kelly, such language is not very becoming on a lady."

Kelly's eyes snapped up and she was finally able to assign a face to the voice that had been haunting her since the phone call when he'd threatened her father.

"Who are you?"

The man, who wore a black on black tie and dress slacks along with striking blue eyes and light hair, smiled mysteriously, "See now?" he continued, his English accent almost thicker than before, "I knew a smart girl like you could figure something out."

_TBC  
_


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** Yay for new chapter!! When I first loaded this one it was over 5,000 words long, so I cut it to be a bit shorter cuz that's getting out of hand. It's still just 200 shy of 4000, but that's workable, dontcha think? Enjoy the looong one. -pj

"She's _what_?"

Ziva's eyes snapped up at Gibbs' sharp and overly loud exclamation as he stopped short, just outside the hospital doors. She furrowed her brow in confusion when he lifted his eyes and they began scanning frantically over the parking lot and, just to be safe, she began looking too, though she wasn't sure what for.

"How did this happen McGee?" Gibbs barked.

Ziva tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. The expression on Gibbs' face did not match the anger in his tone. If her hand was forced, she would have described it as something akin to fear. But she'd never seen that on Gibbs before, so she couldn't be sure.

Apparently, he was dissatisfied with the answer he received because hardly two seconds after asking the question, Gibbs flipped his phone shut, only to open it again a moment later and dial another number from memory,

"Garber? This is Gibbs. Yeah, I need you to trace a cell number and put out a BOLO for me."

Ziva's eyes widened as Gibbs began giving a description to the other agent and she suddenly understood the panic in his eyes.

_Kelly._

---

McGee had first run back to Tony's room, hoping, praying, wishing, that by some miracle Fate had decided today was not his day to die and he had merely missed her as they'd crossed paths in the hallway.

It wasn't probable. Or possible really.

But it was better than the alternative.

Which was that Kelly was missing.

Now, fifteen minutes later, he was resigning himself to being on the receiving end of permanent silent treatment from Gibbs, which was better than the death glares he got every time he had the misfortune of being in the man's line of sight, and much better than the immediate death he'd been expecting.

_"Just what part of 'don't let her out of your sight' was difficult for you to understand, McGee? Should I have said it in computer speak or did you just think I was kidding?"_

McGee winced at the memory, he'd been backed up against the wall of Tony's room with Gibbs face in his own, and knowing he deserved every word.

_"No Boss. I didn't think you were kidding."_

Still, even the glares and silent treatment from Gibbs were better than the complete and total shutout he was getting from Tony. Usually the other agent would have been tagging him with new, more original and humiliating nicknames at this point. Head-slapping him with sarcastic comments about his 'Probiedom'. But not this time. This time it was as if Tony couldn't even bear to look at him without giving in to homicidal urges.

That was how Tim knew he'd really screwed up.

After finishing (for now) with McGee, Gibbs did an about face and left the room. Naturally, the entire team followed him, including Tony, much to Ducky's chagrin, out into the hallway to the Nurse' station.

"Oh yeah, I saw her," a caramel skinned woman with burgundy lips and braided black hair spoke up after Gibbs inquired if any of the staff had noticed Kelly passing by earlier. "Blue t-shirt and jeans? Short brown hair? Yeah, she went down the stairs." Her eyes widened at the severe looks on everyone's faces, from Gibbs who looked both concerned and pissed, Tony who looked mostly pissed, Abby, Ducky and Ziva who looked mostly concerned, and McGee who looked mostly guilty. "I thought she was just visiting, if I had known she was a patient I would have stopped her. I swear."

Gibbs turned away impatiently and faced his team.

"The BOLO hasn't turned anything up yet and her cell must be off 'cause we can't trace it, so Ziva I want you to get-"

"Hospital security videos, I'm on my way," She nodded once and turned, purposefully striding toward the elevator.

"Tony-" Gibbs said to the younger agent, who was uncharacteristically still and silent.

"Phone records. On it Boss." Tony said grimly, and turned to follow in the direction Ziva had gone, apparently not noticing he was still dressed in mint green scrubs.

"No Tony," Gibbs called out and Tony stopped. He shook his head at him, "you go back to bed."

"But Gibbs, I can help! I want to-" Tony countered, sounding angrier than he'd meant. He'd been forced to sit on the sidelines the last time this happened. He'd be damned if he'd do it again.

"Yeah. And you will. After you're cleared by your Doctor, DiNozzo," seeing Tony was ready to protest further, he gave another short shake of his head and cut him off before he had a chance to begin, "it's not a suggestion."

Tony grit his teeth and Gibbs turned to the elderly man beside him.

"Ducky-"

"I'll watch over him," the man responded said, and then raised an arm to indicate Tony should get himself back to his room. Tony glared between Gibbs and Ducky a few times before he complied, the muscles in his jaw working hard beneath his skin.

"Okay now, Abby," Gibbs glanced at the pale faced and exhausted goth. She raised her eyebrows expectantly, "Finish Kelly's math thing. My gut says this is all connected to her case and that's still the best lead we got."

Abby's green eyes bore into his blue ones and, for a moment, she ignored the order.

"Gibbs, did the CIA do this?" She asked quietly.

He shook his head, "not this time, Abbs."

She didn't seem comforted by his answer, "but Gibbs, if the CIA isn't behind it then whoever took her has no reason not to…"

She trailed off and bit her lip, not wanting to finish the thought. But judging by the hard lines of worry and anger on Gibbs' face, she didn't need to.

"Go finish the algorithm, Abby."

Still she did not move, "I would love to, but I can't. This math is _way _over my head."

"I don't want to hear how hard it is, Abby. I want it done," he snapped at her. Abby didn't blink.

"The CIA recruited Kelly for a reason, Gibbs," Abby shouted back, throwing her hands up helplessly. She knew his anger was born of fear and that it wasn't directed at her, but couldn't stop herself, "I _can't_ do this."

Gibbs stared at her for more than a minute, trying hard to keep his impassive mask in place.

"You have to," he told her finally. The hard edge of his voice dissolved and Abby blinked back tears at the desperate undertone it held. Though she was still unconvinced, nodded her head, unable to deny him this one ray of hope.

"What about me, Boss?" McGee spoke up bravely. He'd been standing slightly away from the group but now took a step forward. Gibbs' gaze slowly left Abby and crossed the space to land on McGee. Tim swallowed hard, ready to accept and excel at any task (or punishment) Gibbs gave him. Even, and especially, if it was impossible.

Abby held her breath, her eyes bouncing from one man to the other and back again. Wanting to look away, knowing she probably should, and unable to do so.

"You, McGee," Gibbs said, his voice low and alarmingly level. He stepped forward until their noses were almost touching, "can try not to give me another reason to shoot you today."

McGee gave a microscopic nod of his head.

Gibbs narrowed his eyes slightly and took a half step back, "and while you're doing that, look into Kelly's phone records. I want to know about every incoming and outgoing call, text message and voice mail for the past two days."

McGee nodded again and started towards the elevator.

"And McGee."

He stopped and faced his boss, trying not to wince.

"When you're done, and this is all over, come to my office and we'll talk about whether or not you still have a job."

Gibbs didn't wait for a response, he turned on his heel and left for the elevator, leaving Abby looking wide-eyed after him and McGee looking grimly accepting.

"Harsh," Abby whispered, ever the empathetic one, as she turned to face her friend.

McGee pursed his lips and glanced at her before heading toward the stairwell, preferring not to ride in a small confined space for six floors with Angry Gibbs.

"Not nearly harsh enough, Abbs."

---

Kelly was pulled from the car as roughly as she'd been pushed into it, though this time with the added bonus of a blindfold, and the Englishman 'tsk'ed insincerely at his enforcer.

"What did I tell you about treating ladies with respect, Byron?"

"Oh, so "respect" to you is the same as "taking someone against their will" then, hm?" Kelly's words slipped out before she had a chance to even consider retracting them. Byron's grip on her intensified four fold, enough to cause her to whimper slightly and she was sure she would have an impressive bruise by morning. And though she couldn't see him, something in his voice made her think The Englishman was amused.

"Bring her."

She was pulled forward and stumbled across uneven ground, and strained her ears for the sound of cars or the smell of smog, anything to indicate they were still in the city. They'd installed the blindfold on her not long after leaving the hospital but she estimated they'd been driving for close to half an hour or so. And, judging by the silence that surrounded her, broken only by the occasional bird and bullfrog, not to mention the smell of cow manure that drifted to her nose on the breeze, she guessed she was right.

After a short walk, she'd counted thirty-three paces, the ground became even and the smell changed from fresh fall breezes to must and stale air. Inside. Then more shoving and a few doorways and sixteen stairs later, she was halted, and the blindfold removed.

"Welcome to our humble abode," The Englishman spread his arms, gesturing around the room.

_Well, he got the humble part right._

The room was completely bare except for a single chair in the middle, a rather comfortable looking armchair with blue paisley fabric. All four walls were white and plain, the floor was wood and it's constant creaking protested the new dwellers with every step. There were two windows, which were closed but had no curtains to speak of.

The Englishman who, in his black slacks and shirt, suspenders and Rolex, seemed at odds with the plain surroundings.

"I've seen this movie," she said flatly and glared first at the chair and then at the rope lying beside it, "I die at the end."

This time the Englishman laughed, shaking his short blonde locks across his forehead, "do not worry, dear Kelly. I have no intention of harming you. I only wish to…delay you." He paused and regarded her appraisingly, "still, perhaps the rope is unnecessary."

Kelly felt her stomach flood with relief and she bit her lip to keep from smiling. The Englishman, seeing her reaction, let the corner of his mouth quirk up.

"Please, Kelly, tell you you do not think so little of me," he jerked his chin in the direction of the chair, "you have been specially trained by the CIA, you probably have more than one concealed weapon on your person. I wish the rope weren't needed but, you leave me no choice."

Kelly hardly had time to think before rough hands grasped her arms and shoved her in the direction of the chair, her teeth jarring with the impact of sitting down.

The Englishman watched on silently as Byron started to tie her wrists, one to each arm of the chair, and Kelly felt her heart sink. These guys were professionals, they knew what they were doing. If your hands were tied together, either in front or in back, it was still possible to use them.

_But apart? Tied to a chair? _She winced, _Not to mention tightly? No way in hell._

Seeing that he was preparing to do the same to her ankles, Kelly took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

_I've been trained for this. I can do this. Sure, it was just a day seminar that I wasn't really paying attention to since I was working on that Behavioral Prediction Theory but…_

With a sharp breath she lunged forward, head butting Byron while at the same time flailing with her legs. Pain exploded in her cheek and eye and she realized she'd probably not gotten the 'head butt' part right, but the satisfying feel of her toe ending up in soft flesh, and groans and grunts sounding in response, helped dim the floating stars somewhat.

But the victory was small and short lived, for not even five seconds later she felt a tight, painful grip on her scalp as someone grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her head back. Her eyes flew open as a pained cry escaped her lips.

"Now Kelly, I'm a gentleman," the Englishman was standing directly behind her, whispering calmly in her ear, "and I do not wish to hurt you. But, if you continue being such a nuisance, I will have to forgo my manners in favor of efficiency."

Kelly swallowed. She didn't like the sound of that. She watched as Byron carefully stepped away, gripping both his face and his groin and giving her a glare.

"Okay. Won't happen again," she promised, the pain radiating from her face compounded with her scalp and now her wrists as they rubbed against the rough rope, not allowing her to come up with a more creative answer.

"Good." The Englishman abruptly let her head drop and she bit her lip to keep sudden tears of fear and pain at bay.

"I'm afraid you'll have to wait here, I have some business to attend to."

With that The Englishman and Byron left the room, leaving Kelly to stare at blank walls and hope she wasn't in as big of a mess as she thought she was.

---

When Ducky entered the room behind DiNozzo, he found the man fishing his clothes out of the cuboard beside the bed.

"Just where do you think you're going, young man?"

"With Gibbs. To find Kelly," Tony said, throwing his legs over the side and reaching for his jeans. Kelly needed help, he sure as hell wasn't going to let her down this time.

"It don't think that is-"

"Okay Mr. DiNozzo, if you have someone to drive you, you're all set to leave," Dr. Hardaway entered the room, hugging a clipboard and smiling lightly, unaware of the events that had recently transpired.

Tony turned a grin on Ducky and then switched to a puppy dog look.

Ducky sighed ad rolled his eyes, "oh alright. Put your clothes on, I'll drive you to NCIS."

---

Kelly tried her best to stay alert and focused, she needed to find a way out of this. But despite her best attempts to stay awake, as the minutes and hours droned on, and with nothing to occupy her mind (other than ulcer causing worry) she found herself nodding off.

"Wake up sleeping beauty."

Her head snapped up and her cobalt eyes landed on the Englishman, leaning casually in the doorway holding a bowl of steaming liquid in his left hand.

She found his gaze and the perpetual almost-smirk that quirked the right corner of his mouth unnerving and she tried to imagine what her father would say if he were in this situation.

_Probably, 'say hello to my lil friend' and pull out an uzi on this guy.  
_

Exhaustion had dampened her self-control somewhat, and the mental picture of her father doing a Silvester Stalone impression proved to be too much for her. She laughed.

The Englishman tilted his head.

"You are an intriguing girl, Kelly."

Kelly forced herself to calm down and watched him warily as he stepped forward, holding out the bowl of soup to her.

"Here, it is time to eat."

"Bringing me food? Isn't that your lacky's job?"

The man retracted the bowl to himself thoughtfully.

"Ordinarily, yes," he began, and her suspicions were confirmed that this was not this crew's first kidnapping, "but you interest me, Kelly. I do wish we had met under better circumstances."

Kelly didn't respond.

He sighed and held the bowl out again, "eat. You need your strength."

Kelly looked into the bowl and then raised her eyebrow at her captor.

"So…you're going to untie me?"

"Heavens no," he shrugged, "I suppose I could feed you."

Kelly deadpanned, "I'd rather starve."

He smiled and Kelly found his constant amusement at everything becoming annoying.

He knelt to put the bowl at her feet, "Well, you're a smart girl I'm sure you'll-"

"-figure something out," she finished with a roll of her eyes, "I remember."

The Englishman nodded at her and turned to leave.

"Hey, wait!"

The man stopped and turned around, "something else?"

Kelly shifted, thinking how far she was willing to push him. The Englishman exuded a casual arrogance and almost harmlessness, but she knew that not to be the case. "Yeah. At least tell me why I'm here."

He narrowed his eyes at her and remained silent.

"C'mon, I've cooperated so far…I mean, aside from the whole head butting thing. The least you could do is tell me why you took me."

He sighed, "My contact at the CIA was sure you and your math would expose him. I could not allow that to happen," he raised his eyebrows as he explained, "you see, if he dies, I won't get paid."

"Well then tough luck for you, because I finished the algorithm before I left," she lied, "and when NCIS finds your 'contact' he's a dead man," she finished confidently, jutting out her chin.

The Englishman's smile stayed firmly in place, but his spine stiffened slightly, as if he was unsure of whether or not to believe her.

"NCIS will not kill him."

"_NCIS _might not, but my dad would."

He considered this a moment more but did not seem worried, "well, if he does, he does. It would be inconvenient, but there will always be someone else to take his place."

"What makes you think you'll be able to get someone else to turn?"

"Everyone has a price."

"Not everyone" she countered.

He leaned one shoulder against the wall as if carrying on a conversation about the global economy and the other half of the discussion was not tied to a chair, "no? And what got you to come down to meet my car, Kelly?"

She pursed her lips and glared at him.

"You did it to save the ones you love," he shrugged, "as I said, everyone has a price. Some are just higher than others."

Kelly swallowed, suddenly realizing he was probably right. The CIA wasn't an agency that exactly prided itself on the loyalty of it's members anyway.

"But why take me?" she asked, getting back to her original question. She gestured toward the soup on the floor, "why keep me alive?"

"I told you Kelly, I have no intention of harming you."

"Well somebody sure did. A sniper shot into my room yesterday and tried to kill me, remember?"

This time he laughed and Kelly felt her stomach drop.

"You think that shot was meant for you? Priceless," he chuckled and shook his head.

Kelly swallowed, not bothering with bravado this time, she asked quietly, "it wasn't?"

"No no, it was a miscalculation. A mistake. My former best gun recently retired and I'm still breaking in his replacement. Apparently all he saw was a male silhouette and took his shot. I assure you he has paid for his incompetence. It's too bad too, I rather liked him. Oh well, like my CIA contact, there will be another to take his place."

"He was aiming for Tony," Kelly whispered, her eyes stinging and her breath suddenly short.

The Englishman shook his head and Kelly's brow knitted together.

_Male Silhouette._

_My house. _

_My room._

_But Dad's room is right next to mine._

_A mistake._

_They weren't after me. Or Tony. _

_Dad was the target._

Kelly's eyes slowly climbed back up to the Englishman's and his eyes, cold and grey, seemed to be mockingly apologetic.

"I am sorry it has to be this way, Kelly. No little girl should have to live without her father."

Her mouth dropped, but she couldn't find the voice or words to respond.

_TBC_


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** Here's the next chap, it's another LONG one, but you guys don't really seem to mind so I'm not gonna sweat it. **Marina **-_ you got me! Numb3rs is one of my favorite shows and I couldn't resist, it fit so perfectly. Great catch._ Enjoy everybody!-pj

Abby sat back from her computer and rubbed her eyes, smudging her makeup across her cheeks, but she was past caring.

"Good news is it looks like Kelly was almost done. Probably just waiting for us to decrypt the last of the data. Which makes sense, I mean, the more data, the more accurate the algorithm. The bad news is, if I'm off by even one character, this is probably going to implicate Tom Hanks as the CIA mole."

She looked up but McGee was not taking the bait. She sighed.

"McGee, you can't keep stewing like this. You shouldn't blame yourself."

"Then just who should I blame, Abby? Gibbs gave me one assignment. Keep Kelly safe. And I screwed it up and Kelly could end up paying for it," he shook his head. Abby was sure she had never heard him so defeated.

Then she took it back.

She had. Once. The first time Tim ever killed someone.

"If anything happens to her…" he continued quietly, his eyes haunted as he stared blankly out into space, no doubt imagining the thousands of things he knew people to be capable of doing to other people.

"Stop right there, Timothy," Abby cut him off sharply and rose from her chair. She took his face in her hands, "nothing is going to happen to her. You hear me? Nothing."

Before McGee could respond his computer chirped happily that it had retrieved Kelly's phone information and texts. Abby released his face so he could open the file. They whispered in unison when they saw what it had found.

"Oh my God."

---

Gibbs, Tony and Ziva stood around the plasma in the middle of the unit watching security footage from the hospital. The cameras caught Kelly leaving her room like the nurse said, and entering the stairwell. There were no cameras there and they lost her for several minutes until she emerged in the front lobby and was seen briefly inside and then caught again outside the main hospital entrance.

Ziva sighed loudly as two large dark figures approached and flanked Kelly on both sides.

"Something bothering you, Officer David?" Gibbs asked shortly, his eyes narrowing as his daughter was shoved somewhat roughly into the back of the car.

Ziva glanced to her left and then looked back at the screen, "you seem sure the CIA is not behind this kidnapping."

"I am."

"But how do you know? They've done it twice before. What's to say they wouldn't do it again."

"Because she was already working with them," Tony answered quietly from the other side of her. She turned to look at him but he kept his eyes on the screen, "if they wanted her, they just would have kept her when they had her before."

Ziva furrowed her brows as she considered this and Gibbs suddenly stopped the tape.

"There."

They're eyes all fell to the small still of Kelly at the last moment before she disappeared inside the town car. Her right arm was gripped tightly by the man on her right and most of her was blocked by the one of her left, but her face was visible. She was glancing back over her left shoulder looking directly at the camera. Looking at them.

"That's for us," Gibbs said, slowly dropping his finger as the three agents absorbed the frightened, apologetic look on Kelly's face.

"So we would know she's not going willingly," Tony ground his teeth and pursed his lips, his eyes hardening, revealing a darkness that was usually hidden behind dirty jokes and mischief.

Gibbs phone rang in his pocket and he answered it without looking away.

"Yeah…Okay. We'll be right down," he hung up, "Abby's got something for us."

---

"Abby, you tell them," McGee pleaded, clasping his hands together and contemplating getting on his knees to beg.

"No! McGee, it's your work," Abby said, steadfastly refusing. She was not going to let Gibbs and Tony and McGee avoid each other because when they got Kelly back, and she had no doubt that they would, Kelly would not appreciate it if Abby had allowed the team to fall apart in her absence.

"Please Abbs, he hates me right now. Not that I blame him," he added. Abby sighed deeply, not wanting to admit that a part of her thought he was right. Abby had never seen Gibbs as angry as he was now.

"No, he doesn't Tim-"

"Yes I do," Gibbs suddenly appeared at the door, Tony and Ziva in tow, "but right now I need Abby on that algorithm so McGee, whaddyagot?" He asked, coming to a stop just behind and to the right of McGee. Ziva came to stand on the other side with Tony putting as much distance between himself and McGee as possible, standing on the other side of Abby's work table. Abby gave Tim a sympathetic look and returned to her own computer on the other side of the room.

Tim glanced quickly at Tony, who just stared at the computer screen.

"Well most of the numbers Kelly called were one of us or any number of take out places," McGee began, bringing up the list of incoming and outgoing calls onto his computer screen, "and all her incoming calls were accounted for as NCIS, CIA or various classmates from her school, except this one."

Ziva frowned at the two highlighted rows, "it says the number is blocked,"

"Yeah," he nodded, "we can't trace it-"

"Then what good is it, McGee?" Tony snapped.

McGee glanced at him again and swallowed, "I don't know if it is or isn't, Tony. It's just evidence. And the more evidence we have, the better our chances of getting Kelly back." Tony's look almost seemed to soften at this, and Tim looked back at his screen, "the last three calls made to her before she disappeared were from this blocked cell. And the first two were actually text and picture messages."

"Can we see them?" Gibbs asked.

"Yeah," a few clicks on his keyboard and two small pictures were pulled up on screen. Gibbs immediately went around the desk to stand in front of the plasma on the wall. They were pictures of himself and Tony.

"As far as I can tell the first one was of Tony and there was no message," McGee said, shifting to look between the two monitors at Gibbs, "but the second one was sent with this message."

A small box enlarged below the photos and upon reading it, the tension in the room doubled.

"That's why she left," Ziva said finally, "they threatened you."

Before anyone had a chance to respond there was a loud 'whoop' of success from the next room and they all turned to see Abby had leapt up from her seat with her arms raised in triumph.

The glass doors swished open on Gibbs' approach.

"Gibbs, I got it!" she turned to her boss with bright eyes and then bent over her computer, "now I'm going to input the algorithm into the system and let it do it's magic," she finished typing and hit the 'enter' key with a flourish and watched wide-eyed as data began flashing across the screen."

"What's it doing?" Tony demanded, bending over to scowl at the machine from the opposite side of the desk. Gibbs had one hand braced on the back of Abby's chair and the other on the desk while Ziva and McGee looked on silently from behind them.

"It's analyzing bank account statements," McGee said a few minutes later. He glanced at Gibbs, who was looking to him for clarification, "Boss, she couldn't have written this algorithm to find the next victim, there was no discernible pattern to their finances. Some were loaded with money for retirement plans, others were broke with gambling debts," he shook his head in confusion and went back to the screen.

"Start from the end," Abby muttered, her eyes narrowing on the screen.

"Abbs?" Gibbs prompted.

"Kelly said something about starting from the end, remember McGee?" she glanced quickly at Tim and then back at Gibbs, "this must be what she meant. She's using the victims we already have to go straight to the source. It's checking for suspicious bank activity to find the mole."

Ziva straightened, arms crossed over her chest, "makes sense. There are many terrorist cells or corrupt governments who would pay handsomely to have key members of the US government neutralized."

"How long before we have a name?" Gibbs asked, staring at the computer as endless lines of letters and numbers flew by, along with names and photos.

Abby sighed, "I don't know, but if Kelly is as good as I think she is," she was interrupted by the computer beeping and a blinking green 'match' across the screen, "not long at all."

They all leaned forward to read the name and title.

"Evan Carlson," Gibbs snatched a scrap of paper and a pen off Abby's desk and scribbled down the address.

"Uh, Gibbs?" Abby called as the team all started to leave en mass.

He looked up, "what is it, Abbs?" he asked, knowing by the seriousness of her tone that it was important.

Abby turned wide green eyes on him and the team looked on curiously from behind him.

"It says here that up until three months ago, Carlson was a CIA Control Officer to Asset Code Name: K."

Gibbs' eyes hardened and he gave a minuscule nod, "Tony, with me. Ziva, McGee, get interrogation ready."

They turned to leave and Ziva watched with confusion.

"Get interrogation ready?" she hissed, throwing a glance at McGee and then Abby, "what are we supposed to do, hang curtains?" she asked acerbically.

Abby stared after Tony and Gibbs silently, tension rolling off her in waves. McGee sighed and glanced at his partner.

"No, we don't do anything. We wait."

"But McGee they-"

"It's not business this time Ziva," Abby cut in, "it's personal."

Ziva tilted her head and turned to see Gibbs and Tony standing side-by-side, identical cold, dark stares on their faces. She'd never seen a look quite that hard on Tony before, and only on Gibbs when she first met him, when he was after Ari.

She sighed, straightening slightly as the elevator doors shut, understanding.

"Then Interrogation will be ready when they arrive."

---

Kelly bit her lip and closed her eyes.

_A dry, arid desert._

She tightened her thighs, as much as she could with her ankles tied to a chair.

_Parched grass in the summer heat._

She held her breath and swore.

_Other…dry things…_

All at once she let out all the tension and took a deep breath, bouncing slightly in her seat, a move made uncomfortable and difficult from the ropes. Distraction wasn't working. In fact, it seemed to make her current dilemma worse.

Seeing no other option, and she'd certainly been thinking, she gave one last desperate tug at the ropes. It accomplished nothing but scraping away the last of her raw skin.

"Hey! Anybody out there?"

To her delight the sound of heavy footfalls answered her call several endless moments later.

"What?"

"Byron, old buddy," she grinned, and not just because he was coming to hopefully allow her to use the bathroom, but because he was just big and dumb enough that her plan for escape might work, "I need a favor."

"What's that?" He asked, but she was pretty sure he was only humoring her.

"I need the ladies room."

"Hold it," he said, and turned to leave.

"I've been holding it for four hours," she guessed, and he didn't correct her so she assumed she was close, "and I _can't_ hold it anymore."

He remained impassive.

"Oh, c'mon Byron! I'm sorry about the head butting thing just let me use the bathroom, it's ten feat away," she was whining at this point, desperate for the toilet she'd spotted on the far side of the room when they first brought her in. It was behind her so she couldn't see it, but she was sure it hadn't moved in the past four hours. Seeing he was still unconvinced, she played her trump card, "what's would your boss say if you didn't do a lady the dignity of letting her use the restroom?"

At this Byron resentfully pushed off the wall and untied her wrists from the chairs. He stepped back and Kelly hastily untied her own ankles and rested his hand on the gun in his waistband, just to keep her from getting any 'ideas'.

She stood slowly, not wishing to startle the trigger happy enforcer into doing something she would regret. But she stopped suddenly when she walked into the small, attached bathroom.

"Um…is it just me or is this room missing something?"

Byron glanced around, obviously still humoring her.

"Nope."

She rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips, "there's no door."

He shrugged and Kelly frowned. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the sole window in the room was shut and locked.

_Great. There goes that plan._

A twinge in her bladder reminded her of her original predicament.

"Well could you at least turn around?" she paused a beat and then added, "please?"

A ghost of a smirk crossed Byron's rugged features and a barley audible snort sounded as he pivoted his large frame and wedged it backwards in the door.

"And don't try anything," he grumbled.

"Wouldn't dream of it, sunshine," she muttered, reluctantly accepting that this was the most privacy she would get, and her bladder would not wait forever.

After she sat down, and ever the multi-tasker, she reached into her shoe pulled out a needle that was hidden in the seams of the tongue. Her knife was still in evidence at Metro from her first disappearance because she hadn't had a chance to go pick it up. The Needle move she'd been taught was less of a sure thing and possibly more of a risk, but it was her only option.

She was _not _going back in that chair.

Kelly moved quickly, allowing the sound of the flushing toilet to cover her approach as she crossed the room to stand directly behind Byron. Her hands shook slightly and she clutched the needle in her fist. It was a precise maneuver and she'd only done it once, and only on a crash test dummy. It was a last resort, mostly because it was so unreliable. She knew what she had to do, knew how to do it, or so she thought. But a millimeter too far to the right or left and she would only annoy him, doing no damage, or kill him practically instantly.

She swallowed, shutting off her mind in hopes that she would not to talk herself out of the only shot she had.

"Are you done ye-" Byron began, starting to turn.

Kelly inhaled sharply and raised her hand, plunging the needle into the side of his neck.

---

The first thing Tony did when he got in the car was shed the blue hospital issued sling . Gibbs raised an eyebrow at him.

_You sure that's a good idea?_

Tony gave him a stubborn stare and dipped his chin once.

_I'm sure I'll kick more ass without it._

And it was enough.

When they got to Carlson's house Gibbs skidded to a stop and they whipped open their doors almost before the engine was off. They marched up the walkway and Gibbs rang the bell while Tony banged against the large wooden door.

Seconds later it swung open and Carlson hardly had a chance to be surprised before Tony and Gibbs pushed their way inside.

"What the-?"

Tony grabbed for his shoulders and shoved him back, hard, against the wall, the plaster cracking slightly when Carlson's head connected with it. Carlson cursed and Tony took a fistful of his shirt to keep him steady as his vision swam.

"Your first mistake was ordering a hit on him," Tony spat, jerking his chin in Gibbs' direction and he stepped into Carlson's line of vision.

"You're second was taking my daughter and thinking you'd live to tell about it," Gibbs' whisper was accompanied by an uncomfortable tightening of the cloth in Tony's fist, constricting Carlson's air supply.

Gibbs paused a beat, his cold blue eyes burrowing into Carlson's, but the man had been spoiled by the CIA and his face revealed nothing.

"Where is she?" Gibbs all but growled.

Carlson's upper lip curled unrepentantly, "even if I knew I wouldn't tell you. She's been nothing but a pain in the ass since the moment she stepped foot inside the agency."

In a flash Gibbs' elbow came up and connected with Carlson's nose, causing a sickening crack and blood began gushing down his face. Gibbs stepped back and Tony allowed the man to double over, groaning in agony.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs said, turning his back on them both and starting toward the door. Tony roughly roughly pulled Carlson's hands behind his back, tightening the handcuffs until the man grunted in pain.

"Yeah Boss?"

"About the suspect's broken nose-"

"He seems to have a problem with walking into walls, doesn't he Boss?" Tony pulled up beside Gibbs on the porch and looked at him, matching grins on their faces.

"Yup," Gibbs looked away again, "sure does."

Tony nodded and pushed Carlson, none too gently, toward the car.

"Oh, sorry about that," Tony apologized cheekily when he very much on purpose allowed Carlson to hit his head while pushing him into the back seat.

Gibbs climbed into the driver seat and a moment later Tony sat down beside him.

"Hey, Boss."

"Yeah?"

"Seatbelts aren't required in the back seat, right?" Tony asked casually, buckling his belt securely.

"Nope, not the last time I checked," Gibbs responded, making sure his own seatbelt was fastened.

"Good," Tony slipped on his sunglasses and turned to look out the window, "would hate to have to write us a ticket."

Gibbs started the engine and pulled out, only to slam on the brakes a moment later, causing everyone to shoot forward in their seats, Tony and Gibbs held fast by their seatbelts.

Tony looked at him.

Gibbs shrugged, "squirrel."

There was a pained moaning coming from the backseat and they both smiled.

"Thought so," Tony said, turning back to the window, "there's been an unusual amount of squirrels this year. We'll probably see seven or eight more of them before we get back to the naval yard."

"You know what, DiNozzo," Gibbs said, pulling out onto the residential street, "I think you just may be right."

---

Kelly stared down at Byron's sprawling form for a few seconds, almost praying to see some sign of life. The sound of footsteps pounding on stairs snapped her out of her remorseful reverie and she dashed to the window. Unlocking it and flinging it open all in one motion, she cursed at herself for the hesitation.

_Don't ever hesitate because you're second guessing yourself_, her father's voice rang in her ears as she hastily dropped both legs out the window and turned so that she was balancing, rather uncomfortably, on her stomach.

Her eyes fell briefly to Byron's large figure again. He was still motionless. Through the doorway she could see shadows beginning to dance on the wall.

She was out of time.

Letting her weight pull her out until she was only holding on by her hands, she glanced down. It was still a good ten feet to the ground.

She let herself drop.

_TBC_


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:** Okay, here's the next chap, and it's even longer than the last one! Sorry if it seems rushed or of poorer quality than the others, it hasn't sat quite right with me since the moment I wrote it and now I'm too amped because of just seeing _Fast and Furious_ (omg, great great great awesome movie. I almost stayed in the theater and watched it twice!) to try and fix it. There's probably only one more chapter after this, unless I decide to break it into two shorter ones, in which case, there will be two. Just fyi. Enjoy!-pj

**A/N2**: There is a timeline discrepancy thing happening in this chap, as regards to the show verses the fic, but if you don't spot it, I'm not gonna tell you what it is cuz I can't change it and keep the fluidity of the fic. Just fyi again.

Gibbs stood at the end of the table with his back to the interrogation room door. Carlson sat a few feet away with his hands folded in his lap, staring straight ahead at the one-way mirror.

"That's not really a threat," the man said, slouching a little in his chair, "I'm already going to maximum security prison for the rest of my life, and that's if the Agency sees fit to let me live that long."

Gibbs nodded, "you're probably right," he began walking slowly around behind Carlson, out of the other man's line of vision, "but tell me where to find her and I might let you live long enough to let the CIA have a go at you."

The man sat forward in his seat, unblinking brown eyes still staring straight ahead, "Death is better than life in prison for a former government employee."

Gibbs paused, "are you under the impression your death would be quick?" he asked casually, then bent low to whisper in Carlson's ear. And, though the mics didn't pick up what was said, it made the color drain from the man's face.

---

The Englishman and six others all clambered into the upstairs bedroom. His eyes fell first on the empty chair, then Byron's still form on the floor outside the bathroom and then the open window on the left wall.

He cursed.

He should have known better than to leave her up here alone.

"He dead?" He asked coolly, more curious than concerned. The man kneeling beside Byron looked up and shook his head.

"Out like a light though, got some kind of pin in his neck."

The Englishman crossed the room to the window in two short strides. A stiff autumn wind blew outside, dragging reluctant raindrops in on the breeze. He narrowed his eyes at the forest line that set a little more than thirty feet from this side of the house.

"Come on then, don't want her to get too much of a jump on us," he snapped impatiently, and made his way for the door without so much as a backward glance to see who followed. He knew they all would. Or they would pay the consequences. It was that simple.

"What about Byron, Boss?" A voice called out from behind him.

The Englishman didn't pause, or turn. Instead he pulled a 9mm from his waist and cocked it.

"Leave him."

---

"Hm," Ziva crossed her arms and frowned. On either side of her stood McGee and Tony and all three of them stared through the one-way glass at Gibbs and Carlson in interrogation.

Tony gave her a sidelong glance.

"What? You doubt that Gibbs'll break him?" Tony asked disbelievingly. Evan Carslon had hardly spoken since being brought to Gibbs' chat room, and his face revealed nothing. Still, Tony knew he didn't stand a chance. Not with Kelly's life on the line.

"No, I don't doubt that Gibbs will break him," Ziva said, arching an eyebrow, "I merely wonder whether it will be in the literal or figurative sense."

"Probably both," McGee muttered, and winced when, whatever cocky comment Carlson made had Gibbs slamming both hands on the table and standing to lean over it menacingly.

They stood in silence for a few minutes more, during which Ziva became increasingly aware of the tension radiating off her two teammates, and it occurred to her that this was the first time since Kelly had gone missing that Tony and McGee had been in the same room.

She cleared her throat unnecessarily, "I'll just, um, go check on the BOLO," she didn't wait to see if either of her teammates believed her as she backed away from the glass and silently slipped out the door.

The two men remained steadfastly facing forward and the silence went undisturbed until McGee's heavy words broke it.

"I don't blame you for hating me," he said, his voice quiet and containing a surprisingly small amount of self-pity.

Tony sighed, "I don't hate you, Probie."

"You don't?" McGee asked, looking genuinely surprised.

Tony turned to look at him, his face serious, "it's not like you're the first agent to mess up a protection detail," he turned away again, wishing to hide the ghosts that floated across the shadows of his eyes, "and you know what they say about people in glass houses."

McGee stared for a moment, weighing Tony's words. He found they rang true, and got the distinct impression that, somewhere within them, was forgiveness.

"And word to the wise Tim," Tony paused to make sure the other agent was listening, and he was. Tony never used his first name. "You shouldn't hate yourself either. Doesn't do anybody any good."

McGee nodded, "thanks Tony."

They looked on silently for a moment as Gibbs, talking quietly, walked around behind Carlson into his blind spot.

"But," Tony's voice suddenly gained an edge and Tim tensed, "if anything happens to her, I won't give Gibbs a chance to kill you."

He swallowed.

"We'll get her back, Tony." He reassured the other man, though it was more for both their peace of mind than his own sense of self preservation.

Tony's only response was to grit his teeth and stare at Gibbs as he came to stand near Carlson's right shoulder, bent low, and began whispering in his ear. Not two seconds later he saw the color drain from the man's face and Tony nodded his head once.

"Got him."

---

Kelly stumbled and caught herself against a tree to keep from falling. She felt like she'd been running for days. Her chest hurt, she was scratched all over from the sprawling branches and leaves. The light, steady rain had succeeded in making everything slippery and muddy and soaking her nearly to the skin. What was more, her right ankle had gone from a light throbbing, to a full blown fire-intense pain and she bit her lip to keep from crying.

She wiped at her eyes and looked around helplessly. She'd never been so miserable.

She gasped and her breath turned white on the air as she whipped her head around, wet hair smacking her in the face. There were voices behind her. The Englishman and his goons, no doubt.

And they were gaining on her.

She grit her teeth and pushed off the tree, ready to make another run for it, but had gone less than two steps before she fell, face first, into the mud. She sobbed openly to keep from screaming, her ankle had exploded for sure.

Kelly remembered hearing something crack when she initially hit the ground after dropping from the window, but had been so focused on making it to the tree line without being spotted that she hadn't noticed any pain.

Well she was sure as hell noticing now.

She lifted her face from the ground and closed her eyes when she heard the voices again behind her, this time clear enough that she could almost make out what they were saying. She curled up in a ball, mud and rain soaking into her clothing and too tired and scared to care.

_I can't die here. I can't._ She shook her head,_ but I can't go any further. Dad, what do I do? _

_What do I do?_

---

"Alright, all Carlson gave us was a name. No location. I want some answers people and I mean _right now._" Gibbs breezed into his Unit with a new cup of coffee, his team immediately snapping to attention.

"He did not give us a location?" Ziva asked.

"Doesn't know it."

Ziva tilted her head, "you're sure he would have told you?"

Gibbs slowly turned to face her and raised an eyebrow, "oh. He would have told me."

She nodded not questioning the danger in his eyes, "so all we have is a name. A-"

"Garrett Wilson," Tony stepped in, flipping on the plasma in the center of the unit revealing a thirty-something Caucasian male with short blonde hair, "got a record as long as some of Ducky's stories. Played catch and release with Interpole a few times for everything from murder to black market sales but they could never make anything stick. In the meantime he's built himself quite the lucrative criminal career."

"He has been thrown out of England, France, Belgium and Canada," Ziva read from the file she'd pulled from Tony's hands.

"And now he's making himself cozy right here in the good old US of A."

"I want everything on this guy, if he's ever bought a pack of cigarettes in the tri-state area I want to know about it," Gibbs ordered, rounding his desk to his chair.

"Um, he doesn't smoke, Boss," Tony said and then, at the glare he received, both he and Ziva immediately returned to their respective desks as well, "I mean, on it Boss."

"Uh, Boss, I-I think I've found something," McGee spoke up not thirty seconds later.

"You _think_?" Gibbs looked up from his computer, his eyebrows raised expectantly and Tim knew he had a small window of opportunity between 'impress me' and 'get out of my sight before I put a bullet in you', so he talked fast.

"I dumped Carlson's phone records for the past three months and focused on the forty-eight hours prior to each hit," Gibbs stood as McGee's information was displayed on the plasma screen closest to his desk, "he made a brief thirty to forty-five second call to the same burn phone each time. I traced it to several different cell towers all along the coast," Gibbs glanced over his shoulder impatiently and McGee cleared his throat, "but, uh, when I focused on the hits ordered in DC, I was able to cross check the location and times of the calls with traffic and ATM cameras."

Several small stills of the same black town car showed up on the screen, "I wasn't able to get a complete license plate, but since it's such a high-end car I thought it might have GPS. It did," he clicked a few keys on his keyboard purposefully and brought up a map of the greater DC area, "traced it to some farm land about a half hour outside DC. Hasn't moved."

Gibbs turned back, to the others, Ziva and Tony were already gearing up, "DiNozzo, pull up the car," he turned to retreive his weapon and badge and then faced McGee, who was still standing behind his desk, looking tentatively earnest.

He dipped his chin once, "come on McGee, you're coming too."

A grin split the youngest agent's face a mile wide and he hastily collected his gun and badge and ran to catch the elevator.

"Thanks boss."

"Don't thank me yet," Gibbs told him, looking straight ahead as the doors shut, "I still haven't decided whether or not I'm going to have to shoot you."

---

"Hold on."

"What is it?" The Englishman practically growled. His hair was plastered to his forehead, and the wet tree branches and mud of the forest floor had him looking a far cry from the expensively dressed man he'd been half an hour ago. He sent a sidelong glare to Thorp, a former solder in the Ukrainian army who's years spent keeping tabs on government detainees had made him an experienced tracker.

"I've lost her trail," Thorp, a bald man with sharp black eyes and a scowling face, stood from his crouched position, gesturing at the ground with his M9, "she's injured, she fell here. Then got up and moved into this thick of grass…" He trailed off, clearly searching for any sign of the girl and coming up empty.

The Englishman sighed disgustedly.

"We don't have time for this," he muttered, then raised his head to scan the surrounding foliage, his arms out to his sides as he called out, "come now, Kelly. There's no need for all this cloak and dagger nonsense. Come back now and all shall be forgiven, I promise you."

He paused a beat, searching for any movement or sign of life. There was none and immediately his demeanor began to change. He dropped his 'English gentleman' act and his eyes grew cold, his mouth hardening into a harsh line.

"It doesn't matter what you do, you know," he taunted the silence, "I've already dispatched my sniper. It is too late for your indestructible Leroy Jethro Gibbs, but _you _may still prove useful to me."

He waited.

"_Kelly_!" His angry shout echoed out across the air, driving a few birds from their perches high in the trees that still clung to most of their autumn leaves. The men around him winced, knowing the man's patience was running short.

But the forest remained stubbornly silent.

---

A set of cross-hairs roamed the outside of an old brick building, searching impatiently but carefully for their target. The man behind the scope took a slow deep breath, well aware of how important even breathing was to the completion of this, or any sniper mission.

He closed his left eye and looked down the barrel through his scope again. He hadn't been able to get on the navy yard, but it didn't matter, there wasn't anyplace to get a good shot from there anyway. But the tall business complex on the other side of the river not only had much more lax security, but had a direct line of sight to the NCIS building.

Just then the front door swung open and a tall, silver-haired man in a long black trench coat strode out, followed by two more fair men and a dark-haired woman. He smiled savagely.

"Say 'Goodbye', Gibbs," and his finger tugged at the trigger.

"Why, is he going somewhere?"

Dropping his rifle in surprise, the man rolled onto his back, only to find four SIGs pointed in his face.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you it's not nice to snipe unsuspecting NCIS agents?" Garber raised his gun threateningly when the sniper made a move for his sidearm, "do it and I paint this rooftop with your grey matter."

The man hesitated and then sighed, resigning himself to his fate, "how'd you know-"

"Know you were here?" Garber, seeing his team still had the man in their sights, put his weapon away and started to handcuff their newly acquired hired-gun, "well Gibbs, the guy you were hired to kill, he has a way with interrogation," Garber slapped the cuffs in place and hauled the man to his feet, "you'll see what I mean soon enough."

Six flights below and a half a mile away, Gibbs and his team piled into the navy blue Charger and sped off in the direction McGee indicated.

---

Kelly peaked through the leaves of her hiding spot. She could spot one of the enforcers milling about and nearby she saw the black fabric of the Englishman's shirt and pants. His calls rang out in her ears and she squeezed her eyes shut again.

His threats toward her meant nothing. She'd never truly believed he would let her go. But…could he really get to her father? What if he died because she'd been too stubborn to do as she was told?

Kelly bit her lip to keep from sobbing and giving away her position, her current predicament had rid her of her usual quick wit and bright personality. And her stamina and energy reserves had been washed away by rain and too long tied to a chair.

She heard the tone of the Englishman's voice change as his temper ran out and his shouted threats sent shivers down her spine and stung her eyes with tears. She swallowed hard and bit her lip, holding onto the tree and the last shreds of hope she had within her for dear life.

---

They found the town car just where McGee said it would be, looking out of place with it's sleek lines and expensive taste, while surrounded by gravel roads, mown cornfields and a thick forest.

The team fanned out to storm the house, Tony and McGee stealthily moving around back while Ziva and Gibbs stationed themselves on either side of the door out front. Inside they found the first floor empty and, while they were glad not to have found any bodies there was no sign of Kelly and they were almost worried they were in the wrong place. Until Tony came upon a still unconscious Byron on the second floor, along with a chair with rope pooled around the legs.

"She was here," Tony surmised, glaring at the rope and noting the pinkish tinge of blood on some of the fibers.

"But where is she now?" Ziva asked, emerging from the bathroom, which she'd found was just as empty as the rest of the house.

"Out the window?" McGee guessed, standing and looking outside the window that faced the forest, "you wouldn't leave a window open when you had a hostage inside, would you?"

Gibbs came to stand next to his junior agent, "no, you wouldn't," he stopped short and tilted his head to one side.

"Boss?" Tony asked, stepping forward.

Suddenly Gibbs turned on his heel and ran down the stairs, "they're out there. Chasing her."

Gibbs had no trouble tracking the group of mercenaries, after all, they'd been concerned with doing some tracking of their own, and had not been expecting any visitors. It wasn't long before Gibbs' keen ears picked up on the sound of a voice calling out to the forest, and not long after that, he and his team had them surrounded.

"Kelly, answer me!" Garrett Wilson was not accustomed to the harshness of the outdoors, and his wind kissed cheeks and harsh breathing were evidence of his discomfort. And, being that he was not accustomed to discomfort either, his patience wore through quickly.

"Fine. We'll do it your way," he turned to his men, a half dozen guns bought for this very occasion, "start firing into the forest. Either she'll emerge or she'll be hit. One way or the other we are ending this."

"Put down your weapons!"

Wilson froze, confused, as the shout seemed to come from all around.

"Who's there?"

A beat later Gibbs emerged from the tree line, the Englishman's head lined up in his sights.

"Gibbs," Wilson smiled but there was no warmth in it, "shouldn't they be wiping you off the concrete out in front of NCIS right now?"

Gibbs raised an eyebrow, well aware that a few of the more trigger-happy mercenaries were reaching for their weapons.

"Probably. Too bad you sent a rookie to do a vets job."

Wilson made a disappointed noise, "true enough. Good help is so difficult to find these days, surely you understand."

"All I understand is that if you don't drop your weapon it's your brains they're going to be scraping off stuff, dirt bag."

The man tilted his head to one side, cool darkness flashing in his eyes as he considered Gibbs' point. "I believe we outgun you, Mr. Gibbs. Seven to one."

"The way I count I've got you outnumbered, ten to six," his eyes narrowed, "a bullet for each of you plus four to spare."

The Englishman grinned, "we'll see," and even before he moved Gibbs knew he was going for his gun. The result was chaos. Gibbs was the first to fire and then ran for cover. Meanwhile the mercenaries, all startled into action, each went for their weapons and began firing as well, with Ziva, Tony and McGee adding to the deafening noise with well-placed shots of their own.

What felt like an eternity later, the forest fell silent again.

"Sitrep!" Gibbs barked into his radio, from his angle he couldn't see any other targets, or his agents.

"We got 'em boss," Tony answered out loud, cautiously emerging from a thick of bushes about twenty paces away.

Ziva followed suit beside him while McGee appeared from behind a large tree to Gibbs' left.

"You guys all right?" Gibbs asked as they all met in the center of the small clearing, keeping their guns trained on the suspects until they'd been cleared of all weapons. He received a chorus of nods and a cursory glance told him they were telling the truth, his team remained miraculously unharmed.

"They're all dead," Ziva said, surveying the fallen group with sharp eyes, "not that I'm surprised. They had no cover and no idea where we were, did they really expect this to end any other way?"

No one answered her rhetorical question, instead Tony posed one of his own.

"Boss, if Kelly wasn't at the house, and she's not here, where is she?"

A small smile kicked up the corner of Gibbs mouth and his team all gave him looks of varying levels of confusion as he tilted his head back and looked up into the tress.

"Hey, you up there Kell?"

A second later Kelly's face appeared directly above them and her legs swung down on either side of the thick tree branch she straddled.

"Never lost a game of hide and seek, never will," her smile was forced but rewarded with four relieved sets of eyes.

"That's my girl," Gibbs said, nodding approvingly, "now get down here."

Kelly nodded and descended the same way she'd climbed up, very carefully. But her waning adrenalin failed her three feet too soon and her ankle refused to hold her weight, causing her to slip painfully on the wet branches and fall, only to be caught by strong arms a foot before the ground.

"Thanks doll face," she gave McGee, who'd been standing closest and managed to get a hand on her, a weak smile. He nodded and stood her back up, only to have her lean heavily on his shoulder while her father guided her to a tree stump.

"Ziva go call for a crime unit and the EMTs," Gibbs ordered over his shoulder, knowing the half mile hike back to the car would be a breeze for his female agent.

"Dad, I don't need an ambulance, it's just a sprain." Kelly protested. McGee stood at her back, steadying her with a hand on her shoulder while Gibbs carefully probed at her swollen and bruised ankle.

"Why don't we let the professionals decided that, huh?" Tony came to kneel in front of her and raised on hand to her face, "you hurt anywhere else?" he asked quietly, his voice overflowing with affection and concern.

Kelly's smile softened and she leaned into his touch, "nothing I can think of right now."

"How about this?" Gibbs asked, taking hold of her arm and gesturing pointedly at her wrists, now swollen and covered with angry red welts.

She winced, "there is that."

---

Kelly obediently waited for the paramedics while Ziva, McGee and Tony began processing the scene. Of course, not one of them would move until after they had assured themselves that she would stay with her father and, therefore, be safe.

"Yes Abby I'm fine," Kelly assured her friend. Gibbs had wordlessly handed Kelly the phone when Abby called him and proceeded to argue with the EMT over whether or not she needed to go to the hospital, "yes I promise. They're fine too, all of them. Okay, I'll tell 'em. Thanks Abbs."

The medic ended up backing up Kelly's previous diagnosis of a sprained ankle and wrapped it, gave her some painkillers and told her to get some rest, despite Gibbs' protests. Kelly grabbed his hand when he began staring them down, and froced him to look at her.

"Please Dad," she said softly, "I just wanna go home." He stared at her, taking in the harsh lines and dark circles of exhaustion on her face. The pleading in her eyes. The bravery, though thin and flappable, on her face.

He nodded, "c'mon. Lets get you in the car."

Kelly didin't argue and used the crutches the EMTs had given her to hobble over to the navy blue Charger and she was out like a light the moment her butt hit the passenger seat.

It was then that Garber and his team had shown up. Gibbs sidled up to Garber as they trudged through the forest to the main scene.

"How'd it go?" Gibbs asked, although he assumed he knew the answer. The fact that he wasn't dead with a bullet in his head was a pretty good indicator.

Garber nodded, "textbook. You?"

"Same."

McGee, Ziva and Tony all gratefully handed over their gear to the replacement team and were silent on the trek back to the car. They all three piled into the back seat of the Charger, with Tony pulling rank and Ziva pulling on years of 'ninja' training in order to stick McGee with the middle hump seat.

The half hour drive back to DC was only half over and already the team was fast asleep. Gibbs glanced in his rear view mirror and shook his head, a small smile kicking up the corner of his lips. The past three days had been hard on them, and it showed.

Tony's head had fallen back, his mouth hanging open as he snored softly, McGee's head was resting on Tony's shoulder in a way that was sure to have both men jumping apart with embarrassment when they awoke, and Ziva had somehow managed to pull one knee up onto the seat and had her arm stretched out across McGee's chest, her head resting against the window as she slept.

Coming down off a four day high of caffeine, pizza and adrenaline...it was amazing they'd made it back to the car at all.

Gibbs glanced over at Kelly, not realizing how often he'd been doing so since they'd left the scene, and was surprised to find her staring back at him, wide awake.

"I'm still here Dad," she said quietly, smiling in a way that made him think she was laughing at him.

Gibbs nodded, reaching for her hand and squeezing it.

"I know."

"And I'm fine. Promise," her voice softened along with her smile. She was stating the obvious, but she knew it was something her father needed to hear. Something they both needed to hear.

Again, a nod and a squeeze.

"I know."

_TBC_


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N:** And here we are, the last chap, how fitting that it is the longest chap yet! Big, huge thanks to anyone who reviewed this fic, or it's prequel, you absolutely made my day, week or possibly even year. This chap is dedicated to my two most faithful reviewers, _diana teo_ and _finlaure_. Much love to you two!! Enjoy this last chap, the 'Kelly and Gibbs vs. the CIA' era is now coming to an end... - pj

"Oh no, I think they do it just for kicks. You know, trying to give me a coronary," Abby shook her head and took a long swig of her beer, as she lounged on Gibbs' couch with Tim and Ziva in the living room, "between the two of you, you get shot at and kidnapped more often than a witness against the Russian Mafia."

Kelly grinned and turned to look at Tony. They sat on the love seat with Kelly's injured foot up on the coffee table and her side snuggled in tight against Tony's.

"She's right you know."

Tony nodded and set aside his own empty beer bottle, "isn't she always?"

"Of course," she continued as if they hadn't spoken, a testament to the two or five beers she'd already consumed, "you two are so freakin' cute together I could really never even suggest that you break up in order to make a less tempting target."

Ziva smirked and rolled her eyes when Tony and Kelly exchanged warm looks that were practically nauseating.

"Right again."

"Uncanny."

They all laughed, except Abby, who threw a good-natured glare at them both.

"Flattery will get you everywhere."

"That's always been my experience, Abigail."

They all looked up as Ducky reentered the room with Gibbs.

"McGee, grab those empty pizza boxes, will ya'?" He said, his voice disarmingly casual.

McGee felt his heart skip a beat. He'd honestly hoped to put off the inevitable dressing down he knew was coming for a few more days. But that obviously wasn't going to happen. Gibbs finished collecting the dirty napkins and paper plates and then turned toward the kitchen without another word, and McGee knew better than to make him wait.

The rest were caught up in a lively discussion about which had been the best of the Star Trek movies, so that Kelly was the only one to notice the wary expression on McGee's face as he obediently then followed his boss into the kitchen.

She shrugged away from Tony and pulled herself up onto her feet, hobbling toward the doorway.

"Hey, those crutches aren't just for decoration, you know," Tony called out to her, but Kelly ignored him.

In the kitchen she could see neither Gibbs or McGee had gotten far, both still holding their respective garbage while Gibbs leveled the younger agent with one of his patented stares.

"Dad."

They turned to see Kelly leaning against the kitchen counter, an urgent look on her face.

"Kelly, you shouldn't be on your feet," Gibbs scolded, throwing a sidelong glance at McGee to assure him he wasn't yet off the hook.

"Daddy, don't be mad at McGee," she said, ignoring his concern and taking another hopped step forward, "he did the best he could."

Gibbs' face darkened, "he disobeyed a direct order."

"You're not mad at him for that, though, are you?" she said, everything in her voice and body language challenging him to deny it.

Gibbs didn't respond. McGee stood a few paces behind, not daring to move, unsure of how this particular power play would pan out.

"You're pissed at him because I got myself into trouble again. That's fine, Dad. _Be pissed. _But be pissed at _me_. _I'm _the one who gave him the slip-"

"I'm aware of that, Kell. And believe me, you and I are nowhere near finished as far as that goes, but it's a discussion for another time."

"C'mon Dad," Kelly raised her arms to the sides and shook her head, "come down off that high horse for just one minute and tell me you wouldn't have done the same thing. That if it had been me or Abby being threatened and you had no way to know who was behind it or how long there was before they made good, that you wouldn't have gone along with them until you could figure it out."

Again Gibbs didn't respond. Kelly searched his face for some indicator of what he was thinking and found none. Her shoulders slumped.

"Well, I don't know," she shrugged and dropped her gaze, causing Gibbs to realize he'd somehow hurt her with the answer he hadn't given, "maybe you wouldn't. But I had to. I couldn't let them get to you or Tony. And there is nothing and no one that would have been able to keep me in that hospital if leaving meant keeping you safe," she pointed a finger at him and narrowed her eyes, "no one."

With that, she turned and left. Gibbs stared after her for several moments before facing McGee. Tim hadn't move from his spot, looking in the direction Kelly had gone with slightly wide eyes, wondering if her stepping in had made things better or worse for him. Gibbs merely picked up the trash, bent a finger at McGee and strode out the back door, beckoning him to follow him to the garbage can outside.

He waited until McGee had closed the back door and dumped the pizza boxes in the can before speaking.

"Tim," he began, not looking up from the lid of the garbage, "Kelly's right."

McGee tilted his head, unsure of the appropriate response to that. It wasn't what he had been expecting.

"Okay."

"There was nothing you could have done to keep her there if she was hell-bent on leaving."

McGee nodded and then, emboldened by this newer, kinder Gibbs, said with a half grin, "she is a 'Gibbs', Boss."

He almost smiled at that, but quickly squashed it as he turned to face the young man, standing toe-to-toe with him per his habit. Daring him to back down.

"But I hope for your sake you tried."

McGee sobered instantly and swallowed, "I did, Boss," he said confidently, recalling his original 'follow her everywhere including into the bathroom' plan.

Gibbs narrowed his eyes, "and just because we got Kelly back does not mean you're off the hook."

He nodded, "do you want me to hand in my gun and badge, Boss?" he asked quietly, determined to stand tall even as his stomach fell to his feet.

"Oh no, you're not getting off that easy, McGee."

Tim felt a small weight shift off his shoulders and had the strangest urge to say 'thank you', but repressed it.

"But if you ever disobey a direct order of mine again, I won't give you the opportunity to resign…_or_ be fired. You get me?"

Again, McGee nodded, "I got you, Boss."

---

When McGee and Gibbs came back to the living room, Tony was doing an impression of a walrus, Ziva had three empty shot glasses in front of her and Abby, Ducky and Kelly were laughing hysterically. Gibbs just sighed, he didn't even want to know.

Abby spotted McGee in the doorway and stood up, bending to give Kelly another hug.

"Well I better get going. You take care of yourself, 'kay Kid?"

"I will, Abbs," Kelly assured her, returning the hug forcefully. When she was released Abby entwined her arm with McGee's and ordered him to 'drive her tipsy ass home'.

McGee didn't have the energy to point out the fact that they'd driven separate cars, and bid his farewell to them all as he was ushered toward the door. Kelly smiled and watched them go, her eyelids growing heavy as she leaned against Tony's shoulder.

Ducky, noticing her obvious exhaustion, began to stand, "I too should be getting home. Mother's day staff will be leaving and they'll be expecting me."

"I will walk you out Ducky," Ziva stood, and promptly stumbled over her own feet, Ducky barely catching her arm before she fell.

"I'm afraid it will be the other way around, my dear," he turned to Gibbs as he collected his coat and hat, "would it be alright if Ziva left her car here tonight, Jethro?"

Gibbs didn't pause in sipping his beer and gave a half-shrug, half-nod as if it didn't really matter to him either way, which was probably not too far off from the truth.

"Well then it's settled," Ducky proffered his arm to Ziva, who took it gratefully, despite avid protests that she was 'not nearly as drunk as she could be' and thanking Ducky for being 'just the perfect kindman'.

"Gentleman, Ziva." Tony corrected, absently, propping his feet up beside Kelly's.

Ziva ignored him and dropped a hand on Kelly's shoulder as she walked by, "I will see you soon, yes?"

"Before you know it Ziver."

And in minutes the noise that had filled the room was gone and replaced with silence that echoed with exhaustion.

"We should probably get you up to bed, Kell," Gibbs commented. He'd seen that she could barely keep her eyes open as she tracked his movements around the room.

"Just a little while longer dad," she protested weakly, and glanced at Tony and then back again, "can I just um, maybe we could watch a movie or something?" upon seeing her father's dark look she cleared her throat, "it's just that I'm not um, not really ready to be on my own yet…getting kidnapped twice in a week does that to me...that and the fact that I'm pretty sure my nightmares for the next few weeks are going to be hell."

Gibbs sat on the arm of the couch and studied her. The tiredness was obvious, and not unexpected, but behind that was a shadow of fear that made his gut twist.

"Sure," he nodded, "I'll be downstairs if you need anything."

Kelly rewarded this allowance with a grin that made Gibbs nostalgic and he looked away.

"Bond?" Kelly asked, turning to Tony.

Tony had been watching their exchange quietly, never quite tiring of watching Gibbs and Kelly interact. It was a different, softer side of Gibbs he wasn't used to seeing, sometimes he almost thought he could imagine what they had been like fifteen years ago.

Smiling, he transitioned seamlessly into his 'Sean Connery' voice.

"But of course."

---

An hour later Gibbs acended the stairs, his body reminding him that he wasn't as young as he liked to think and four days without so much as a catnap did not agree with his knees. He spotted Kelly standing at the sink, staring at the water as it filled the popcorn bowl and overflowed. He glanced past her into the living room and saw the credits rolling on the television, and Tony's head flopped back. He looked back at Kelly. She was leaning against the counter with her head bowed and his eyes dropped to her feet, wondering if her ankle was bothering her.

"Kelly?"

She didn't move. Hadn't heard him.

He furrowed his brow and stepped up to touch her shoulder, "Kelly."

She gasped and jumped, shrinking away from him and whirling around to face him in the same motion. The wild look of terror in her eyes startled him.

"Dad," she squeaked, her eyes watering as her hand flew to her throat. Immediately tears began to gather in her eyes and fall and she wondered if he could hear her heart hammering in her chest, it had gone from zero to sixty the moment she realized she was not alone.

With trembling hands she tried to brush at her cheeks, "you scared me," she said, wishing her voice was steady. But Gibbs' face softened with such understanding and concern that she had to say it again, this time as a plea instead of an accusation.

"You scared me."

Her whole body started to shake and on instinct Gibbs gathered her to his chest, cupping the back of her head.

"You scared me too, baby." He pressed his face into her hair as her shoulders shook with sobs too deep to make a sound.

After a few minutes Gibbs could feel her hiccuping against him as she faught to regain control and her weight shifting as the last of her energy was depleted.

"C'mon. Bedtime," he said, unwrapping himself from around her to take her hand and lead her toward the stairs. Kelly threw a wary glance at the ceiling and then followed reluctantly. She stopped dead outside the doorway to her room.

Gibbs turned to look at her questioningly.

"Dad…I don't think I can go in there," she looked at him and Gibbs caught sight of the same fearfulness in her eyes that had been there when she spoke of having nightmares.

He squeezed her hand and dipped his chin, "I'll be right here," he assured her quietly. She bit her lip and nodded, but still didn't move. Gibbs hesitated before prompting her again. He knew why she was reluctant to go in there, he had had the same problem himself more than once. But he wouldn't let the fear and regret that gripped him every time he had a 10-71 in the warehouse district, or when he had to drive past Jenny's house, be a part of Kelly's life. He didn't want that for her.

Instead he tugged on her hand again and she took a tiny step forward to keep her balance.

"I'll be here with you. Right here."

Kelly didn't respond at first but after a moment she took a deep breath and nodded, allowing him to lead her inside her room.

Her blue eyes bounced from one point to another, all over the room, looking for some evidence what had happened. She was surprised to find almost nothing. The window had been replaced, the blood all cleaned up and the bullet hole in the wall patched over. Still, it didn't really matter. Kelly remembered where they had all been. Remembered crying her eyes out, probably screaming, when she realized Tony could die. Right there. In front of her. And though she knew that was _not _what had happened, and dwelling on it would not make it better, she couldn't tear her eyes off the spot on the floor where she'd knelt beside Tony.

Gibbs noticed her stare but didn't comment. Knowing it was something she had to work through herself, he sat down on top of the covers and waited.

Suddenly feeling very small and very cold, Kelly hurriedly shoved her legs under the blankets and snuggled into his side, holding him tightly to her to keep him from getting away, not realizing that leaving her was the last thing on his mind.

Gibbs returned her forceful embrace by wrapping one arm around her shoulders, keeping her close, and clasping his other hand firmly with both of her smaller ones, wishing to calm the violent trembling of her body.

"Kelly, you need to relax," he cautioned, propping himself up with one leg on the floor because the small bed was not really big enough for them both. He was worried at how short and rapid her breaths were coming.

"I can't Dad," she gasped, suddenly aware that, no matter how deep she breathed, she could not seem to get air, "The last time I was here Tony almost died," her voice cracked and she took a ragged breath, "I'm so tired Dad. So tired, I just can't sleep. I see the Englishman or Carlson or Tony every time I close my eyes," she squeezed her eyes shut as if to try just one more time, only to snap them open again a moment later, "I'm scared, Daddy."

He squeezed her again and pressed his lips to her temple, "Wilson is dead, Kell and Carlson is dealt with. No one is going to hurt you. _No one_."

"I know," she said in a small voice, though the knowledge did not seem to bring her any comfort.

Gibbs sighed and racked his brain for a way to calm her before she hyperventilated.

"Kelly, breathe with me," he whispered, resting his head on hers and bringing their clasped hands up to rest against his chest, "breathe when I do. C'mon Kell."

She took a deep breath that came out as a gasp and Gibbs' felt his eyes begin to water. He'd been ignoring the obvious, mostly because he had other things he'd been worrying about, for the past week. But the truth was that Kelly being kidnapped, first by the CIA, then by Wilson, had been the hardest thing he'd had to live through in a long time. He'd come to many conclusions, figured a lot of stuff out, the most important being that he could not do it again. He couldn't lose her. Not again. He wouldn't survive it.

_Breathe with me, sweetheart. Please. _

He closed his eyes and tried to remember what he used to do when she was little and scared to go to sleep because of monsters in the closet. A memory like an old movie flashed through his mind and a soft piano melody rung through his memory.

"Hush little baby don't say a word, papa's gonna buy you a mockingbird," he sang quietly, hardly above a whisper. Kelly stiffened and held her breath, as if unsure of what she was hearing. Then, relaxing slightly against him, she took a single deep, satisfying breath, "and if that mockingbird won't sing, papa's gonna buy you a diamond ring…"

Three verses later he felt her relax completely and her breathing evened out. He took a slow breath as he trailed off, every muscle in his body aching with draining tension. And he closed his eyes and kissed her hair, relief flooding every cell in his body.

_That's my girl._

Gibbs looked up and was surprised to see Tony leaning against the door frame, but didn't let on. He saw an expression on the younger man's face that he'd not seen before He titled his head microscopically and narrowed his eyes, the look was vaguely familiar. Suddenly felt a surge of pride and approval that kicked up the corner of his mouth and he shook his head slightly. There was a reason for that familiartiy. He used to wear the same look.

About fifteen years ago.

He caught Tony's eyes and jerked his head. Tony complied, making no attempt to hide the tears that had gathered in his eyes as he crossed the room. He stood beside the bed and raised his eyebrows expectantly.

"She shouldn't be alone tonight," Gibbs whispered by way of explanation and carefully stood. Tony caught his meaning and slid into the vacated spot on the bed, wrapping his arms protectively around Kelly's sleeping form.

"Take care of her, DiNozzo."

Tony nodded, reading the weight of the unspoken in his words answered, "always Gibbs."

Gibbs stopped in the doorway and turned around, taken aback by the seriousness of Tony's tone. But when he read the determination and conviction in the younger man's eyes he smiled fully.

"I know, Tony."

---

_Three Months Later _

"Here's to another bad guy behind bars," McGee raised his box of chinese in a toast and the others responded in kind.

"Thanks to some amazing math wizardry from Baby Gibbs over here," Abby smirked at Kelly, who grinned back at her.

"And of course some incredible super sleuthing from Team Gibbs," she nodded around the circle at Tony, Ziva and McGee.

"Not to mention the fantastical forensics from one Miss Abigail Scuito, whom we would all be lost without," Tony said in an announcer's voice, pointing his chopsticks at Abby and her grin brightened.

"If the meeting of the Mutual Admiration Society is going to break up any time soon, you all have reports that are due before days' end," Gibbs piped up, causing all heads to swivel toward him. He didn't look up.

The team exchanged half-worried, 'busted' looks and all became suddenly interested in their food. Kelly rolled her eyes at the barely distinguishable smirk on her father's face.

"Well, that's my cue to leave," she stood up and stretched, "God, I feel like I haven't slept in days."

"Uh…that's cuz you haven't, babe," Tony muttered, wincing at the memory of Kelly spending the last seventy-two hours in a caffeine induced haze as she worked over one complex math algorithm after another.

But it had paid off in the end, they'd caught the psycho responsible for killing four navy captains.

Kelly rubbed her face, "well that would explain it." She turned to approach Gibbs and he glanced at her as she bent over to kiss him on the cheek.

"Bye Dad."

"See you at home in a few hours, Kell."

She started for the elevator, bidding one last farewell to the rest of the group, not catching the animated glances Tony and Abby exchanged over the egg rolls.

"Um, I'll, uh, walk you out," Tony said, suddenly jumping up from his seat. McGee, Ziva and Gibbs watching him go with two parts curiosity, one part suspicion. Abby just grinned.

Kelly rolled her eyes and stepped onto the lift, "You're being overprotective again."

"You, ma'am, are a magnet for trouble," Tony informed her, smacking the button for the main floor.

"Oh, look at the pot call the kettle black," she teased, "besides, I don't think I'm really in that much danger between the Squad Room and the parking-"

She was cut off by Tony pressing a hand to her back and pulling her to him, his lips on hers before she could even react. He pulled back to smile at her and, without looking away, flipped the emergency stop switch.

Her eyes darkened and her smile turned to an entirely different kind of playful.

"What's this, Special Agent DiNozzo?"

"I love you, Kelly," he ran one hand through her hair and she tilted her head back, exposing the column of her throat.

"Mm-hm."

He smiled at her responses to him and kissed her neck once before pulling back to look at her again, "what would I do without you?"

"Get head slapped less?"

"Now that's for sure," he chuckled softly, and stepped back. Kelly, realizing he had something important to say that he, unfortunately, couldn't get out while nibbling her ear, stood straight.

She frowned slightly at the unusual sincerity in his eyes.

"What is it?"

"I love you."

"You said that."

He nodded and took her hand, and she glanced down, noticing his hands were trembling.

"Spit it out, Tony."

He smiled softly at her entirely Gibbs-like order. "The forever kind of love, Kelly," he whispered.

She felt her breath catch as her eyes widened, her chin dipping slightly to take in his words.

"Tony, are you proposing to me?"

"If I were proposing, there would be a ring."

She frowned again, confused, "so, then…what are you doing?"

"I-this is...Listen, I know," he sighed, shifting on his feet and clearing his throat, "you just got your dad back, got your life back. I wouldn't ask you to change it now. I just, um...I guess I just want you to know I…well, where I stand."

"On my foot?"

"Am I?"

"No."

"Way to kick a man when he's down, Kell," he brought up a hand to rub his face, his cheeks burning hot.

Kelly smiled, she'd never thought Tony to be the kind of man who blushed. Reaching up, she pushed his hand away and took his face between hers, "I want you to know where I stand to, Tony."

This time his eyes were the ones to darken and he rested his hands on her hips, his voice dropping to just above a whisper, "And where is that?"

She merely closed her eyes and pressed her lips to his. Long and slow.

"Oh...I think I like it here."

Kelly laughed.

---

When the doors opened up at the squad room again, Tony was only mildly surprised to see Gibbs standing outside. He raised an eyebrow.

"How'd it go?"

Tony couldn't hold it back and his face split into a wide grin.

"She said 'yes' Boss."

Gibbs hardly flinched, but his eyes smiled.

"I see." He said, his voice revealing nothing.

"Yup, looks like I'm gonna be your son, Boss," he said, in that cheeky way that was so uniquely his own.

Gibbs smiled as he turned to go back toward the unit.

"_Gonna be,_ Dinozzo?"

Tony watched in stunned silence as his boss returned to his desk. He was startled back into life when the elevator doors shut on his foot before bouncing back open.

"Wait a second," he said quietly to himself and then, "Boss, did you just admit that you like me? Hey Boss. Gibbs."

But the man pretended not to hear him and answered his desk phone as it started to ring.

"Yup, be right down," he hung up and picked up his coffee to breeze out of the bullpen, "I'll be with Abby."

McGee and Ziva nodded and moved to return to their desks when Ziva spotted the goofy grin on Tony's face.

"Tony…are you alright?"

He turned toward her and continued to grin, "Boss likes me."

Ziva and McGee exchanged a glance.

"Sure he does Tony," McGee said patiently, patting the other man on the shoulder as he crossed to his desk.

Tony's grin dissolved instantly, "he does! He said so. Just now."

"Oh, we believe you, don't we McGee?"

"Sure. Sure. Why wouldn't we?"

"No. I'm serious you guys. He just compared me to being his son."

Silence.

"He did!"

Snickers.

"I'm telling you he just said it."

More laughter and then an exasperated half-growl and Gibbs smiled as he entered the rear elevator.

Tony was being obnoxious, Ziva was egging him on, McGee was being patronizing, the CIA was out of the loop, the dirtbag behind bars and Kelly was back home where she belonged.

He just needed one thing and his life would be just about perfect in that moment.

He stepped off the elevator and into an Android Lust chorus.

"Whaddya got for me, Abbs?"

END


End file.
